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THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
EDWIN  CORLE 

PRESENTED  BY 
JEAN  CORLE 


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RVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


VIVID   PORTRAYAL   OF   THE   STUPENDOUS   MARVELS   IN 
THE  VAST   WONDERLAND   WEST   OF 
THE   MISSOURI   RIVER. 


SIX  BOOKS  IN  ONE   VOLUME, 

COMPRISING 

IvELS   OF   NATURE,   MARVELS   OF   RACE,   MARVELS   OF 
ENTERPRISE,   MARVELS   OF  MINING,   MARVELS 
OF  STOCK-RAISING,   AND   MARVELS 
OF   AGRICULTURE,  . 

GRAPHICALLY  AND  TRUTHFULLY  DESCRIBED 

BY 

WILLIAM  M.  THAYER, 

ijUTHOR  OF  OVER  TWENTY  STANDARD  WORKS,  INCLUDING  "THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

SERIES  OF  BIOGRAPHIES,"  AND  "YOUTHS'  HISTORY  OF  THE 

REBELLION,"  IN  4  VOLS. 


ILLUSTRATED   WITH  OVER 

1REE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  FINE  ENGRAVINGS  AND  MAPS. 


NORWICH,    CONN.: 

THE   HENRY   BILL   PUBLISHING   COMPANY. 
1888. 


Copyright,  1887, 
BY  WILLIAM  M.  THAYER. 

All  rights  reserved. 


SOLD   ONLY  BY   SUBSCRIPTION. 


ELECTRO-TYPED  BY  J.  S.  GUSHING  &  Co.,  BOSTON. 


PRESSWORK  BY  BERWICK  &  SMITH,  BOSTON. 


College 
Library 


F 
jT< 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  New  West,  where  and  what  is  it  ?  Marvellous  Boundaries ;  Great 
Things  attempted;  Capacity  for  Population;  Average  Moral  Charac- 
ter; No  "Far  West"  now;  Eastern  Errors  about  Western -Life ;  De- 
sign of  this  Book;  Next  to  Seeing;  "Wonderland";  Testimony  of 
Others ;  Marvels  only xxvii 

I. 

MARVELS   OF   NATURE. 

Rocky   Mountain   Scenery;   Testimony  of  Bayard   Taylor  and  William  A. 

Baillie-Grohman        , 3 

CANONS. 

THE  ARKANSAS  CANON  :  Description  and  Royal  Gorge  ;  Visit  by  Tourists    .          5 

THE  BLACK  CANON  :  Its  Character ;  Curricautrs  Needle ;  Gateway  to  Price 

River  Canon 6 

PLATTE   CANON:   Grandeur;   Crookedness;   Wonderful  Rocks;   a  Tourist's 

Description 10 

.BOULDER  CANON:  How  to  enter  it ;  Dome  Rock n 

CLEAR  CREEK  CANON  :  Entrance  and  Course ;  Henry  James1  Description ; 
Sculpture  by  Wind  and  Water ;  The  Double  Head ;  Wagon  Road ;  Old 
Man  of  the  Mountains ;  View  from  Gray's  Peak  and  James1  Description ; 
The  Holy  Cross  Mountain 12 

WILLIAMS1  CANON  :  Its  Location ;  Rainbow  Falls ;  Devil's  Gate ;  Remark- 
able Cave;  More  Remarkable  Rock-Formations;  Dr.  Taylor's  Descrip- 
tion; UtePass;  Manitou  ;  Railway  up  Pike's  Peak 17 

CHEYENNE  CANON  :  Where  ;  The  Seven  Falls  ;  Words  of  a  Visitor      ...        26 

ECHO  CANON:   Grand  Scenery;  Nature's  Pulpit;   Description   by  Another; 

Hanging  Rock  ;  Devil's  Slide  :  Pulpit  Rock 26 

AMERICAN  FORK  CANON:  Picturesque  and  Grand ;  Hippopotamus  Rock  .     .        31 


iv  CONTENTS, 

PAGE 

GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  COLORADO  :  Grandest  of  All ;  explored  by  United 
States  Government ;  White  and  Strobe  Walls  6,200  Feet  High ;  Per- 
mian Butte ;  Pink  Cliffs  ;  Domes  and  Towers ;  Vishnu's  Temple    ...  34 
MARBLE  CANON  :  Belongs  to  Grand  Canon  ;  Button's  Description  ....  44 

KANAB  CANON  :  Belongs  to  Grand  Cafion ;  What  Dutton  says 46 

LAND  OF  THE  STANDING  ROCKS  :  Very  Wonderful ;  Faithful  Representation,  48 

ALBIQUII  PEAK:  In  New  Mexico;  What  Captain  Macomb  says  of  it  ...  48 
CASA  COLORADO  BUTTE:  In  New  Mexico;  examined  and  described  by 

Macomb 50 

FOREST  OF  GOTHIC  SPIRES:  Remarkable  Spectacle:  as  seen  by  Macomb    .  51 

THE  NEEDLES  :  Graphic  Description 52 

CABAZON:  Its  Surroundings ;  1,500  Feet  High 53 

Painted  Columns 54 

SANDSTONE  FORMATIONS  :  In  Arizona ;  Description  of  them  by  Cozzens  .     .  56 
CITY  OF  ENCHANTMENT  :  View  by  Morning  Light ;  Mr.  Cozzen's  Vivid  De- 
scription ;  Testimony  of  Eye-Witnesses 56 

YELLOWSTONE    NATIONAL    PARK. 

History  of  its  Exploration ;  "  Wonderland  " 59 

THE  MAMMOTH  HOT  SPRINGS  :  What  they  are  ;  described  by  Mr.  Wisner  .  60 
GREAT  FALLS  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE  :.  Its  Location ;  Falls  3,000  Feet ;  Grand 

Scenery ;  Statement  by  Gannett 63 

GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE:   Magnificent  Scene;   described  by 

Dr.  Wayland  Hoyt 65 

OBSIDIAN  CLIFFS:  What  are  they?  described  by  Wisner 68 

TOWER  FALLS  :  Surrounding  Scene  ;  Words  of  the  Superintendent  and  Lieu- 
tenant Doane 70 

KEPLER'S  CASCADES  :  Beautiful ;  described  by  Wisner 72 

PALACE  BUTTE  :  An  Imposing  Natural  Structure 72 

GEYSERS. 

Upper  Geyser  Basin 72 

OLD  FAITHFUL:  Described  by  Lieutenant  Doane,  of  the  United  States 

Survey,  and  Dr.  Hayden 75 

BEE  HIVE:  Whence  its  Name;  described  by  Two  Members  of  the  United 

States  Survey 77 

THE  GIANTESS:  A  Mighty  Spouter;  Mr.  Langford's  Testimony  ....  77 
FAN  GEYSER  :  Whence  its  Name ;  What  Lieutenant  Doane  and  Dr.  Hayden 

say :  Table  of  Geysers ;  Remarks  of  a  Tourist  about  Geyser  Basin  and 

Yellowstone  Park .  ...  80 


CONTENTS. 


YOSEMITE    VALLEY. 

PAGE 

Location  and  History 82 

CATHEDRAL  ROCK  :  Its  Height ;  What  a  Traveller  says 83 

EL  CAPITAN  :  Grand  beyond  Description ;  Words  of  an  Eye-Witness  ...  85 

BRIDAL  VEIL  FALL  :  Beautiful ;  described  by  Bentley 87 

YOSEMITE  FALLS  :  Compared  with  Niagara ;  Bentley's  Description  ....  89 
NEVADA  FALL  :  Its  Plunge  ;  described  by  Bentley ;  Liberty  Cap      ....  90 
SENTINEL  ROCK:  Like  Obelisk;  Formation  described  by  Ludlow    ....  91 
THE  BIG  TREES:  Section  of  Big  Tree;    Table  of  Calaveras   trees;   Stage 
driven  through  Hole  in  a  Tree  ;  Racy  Account  from  the  New  West ;  Pio- 
neer Cabin  ;  Professor  Whitney's  Catalogue  of  Trees  and  Measurement  .  93 

GARDEN    OF    THE    GODS. 

Where  situated 98 

THE  GATEWAY  :  Described  ;  Testimony  of  a  Traveller 99 

BEAR  AND  SEAL  :  Soldier  near  by,  and  Rocky  Monster 99 

THE  GRANDMOTHER:  Words  of  Dr.  Mary  E.  Blake;  Words  of  Another      .  100 
BALANCE  ROCK  :  Description  ;  Profile  on  it ;  Words  of  Dr.  B.  F.  Taylor  .     .  102 
NATURAL  WINDOW  :   Action  of  Water  in  creating  these  Marvels,  by  Profes- 
sor Edwards 104 

CATHEDRAL  SPIRES:  Remarks;  Words  of  Fossett 106 

MONUMENT    PARK. 

Its  Location 106 

GROUP  OF  MONUMENTS  :  Opinion  of  Geologists  ;  a  Curious  Incident ;  a  Trav- 
eller's Testimony 108 

THE  SENTINEL:  Why  so  named 109 

THE  DUCHESS:  Greatest  Marvel;  No  Exaggeration no 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

SHOSHONE  FALLS:  Where;  a  Traveller's  Description no 

SAN  PEDRO'S  WIFE:  Near  San  Francisco ;  a  Lighthouse 113 

DONNER  LAKE:  Its  Beauty  and  Name 113 

MULTNOMAH  FALLS  :  Its  Plunge  ;  Description 115 

PILLARS  OF  HERCULES:  What  a  Writer  says 115 

PYRAMID  PARK  :    Remarks  by  Professor  Denton ;    Words  of  Another ;    the 

Cathedral 118 

BUTTES  near  Green  River  City :  Remarkable  Exhibition 118 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

PALISADES  OF  WAGON  WHEEL  GAP  :  Where ;  Story  of  the  Place ;  Magnifi- 

\       cent  Heights 120 

CASTELLATED  ROCKS:  In  Wyoming;  Extent  and  Grandeur 123 

RHODA'S  ARCH 123 

Grand  Coulee  —  Imposing  Spectacle 123 

VALLEY  OF  THE   LAUGHING  WATERS  :    In  Utah ;  compared  with  Yosemite 

Valley 125 

CHURCH,  CASTLE  AND  FORTRESS:  In  Montana;  Rare  Specimen  of  Nature's 

Handiwork 125 

INDIAN  ROCK  :  In  Columbia  River ;  Superstition  of  the  Indians 127 

THE  OLD  WOMAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN:   In  Montana;   the  Region  round 

about  it 127 

Remarks  on  Natural  Walls 128 

Natural  Flagstones,  etc 129 

FISHING  ON  THE  MOUNTAINS:  Over  11,000  Feet  above  the  Sea;  Bierstadt's 

Subject ;  how  reached 130 

PETRIFIED  FOREST:  In  Arizona;  Graphic  Description  by  Mr.  Cozzens     .     .  131 

Summit  of  Italian  Mountain 133 

Arizona  Cacti  described  ;  What  Captain  Button  says 133 


II. 

MARVELS    OF   RACE. 

The  New  West  Oldest 135 

The  Spaniards  possessed  the  Land 136 

Discovery  of  an  Ancient  Race 137 

CAVE-DWELLERS. 

Description  of  their  Houses 137 

Age  and  Origin 138 

Cave-dwellers  on  McElmo 139 

A  Cave-Town  restored 140 

The  Casa  Grantti,  Ancient  and  Grand 141 

Race  in  the  Gila  Valley • 143 

Found  in  New  Mexico 144 

In  Cafion  de  Chaco 144 

In  the  Rio  Mancos 146 


CONTENTS.  vii 
CLIFF-DWELLERS. 

PAGE 

Their  Dwellings  described  by  Holmes 146 

Dwellings  in  Rio  San  Juan,  described  by  Jackson 150 

Estufas.  —  Traces  of  Religious  Rites 154 

Holmes  on  Ruins  of  Southwestern  Colorado 155 

Heights  almost  Inaccessible .     .  157 

In  Labyrinth  Cafion,  and  Remarks  of  Crofutt 158 

Jackson's  Discoveries  in  New  Mexico 161 

Explanation  by  Abbe*  Dominech 163 

Picture-Writing  on  Walls 165 

Explanation  by  Holmes 167 

Ancient  Pottery 168 

Remains  of  Human  Beings 171 

The  Guide's  Legendary  Tale 171 

PUEBLOS. 

What?— Their  History 172 

Description  of  a  Pueblo,  or  Town 173 

Professor  Zahm's  Observation 177 

The  Race  at  Sante  Fe 179 

Three  Civilizations 180 

Mrs.  Wallace's  Observation  and  Description 182 

Implements  and  Customs  Like  those  of  Palestine 183 

Acoma  and  its  Inhabitants 184 

Pecos  and  its  People 186 

ZUN1S. 

Frank  D.  Gushing  among  them 187 

ZuniTown:  Location  and  Description 188 

Cushing's  Entrance  into  the  Town 190 

Altars  and  Incantation  Scene 193 

Industrious  and  Intelligent 193 

Thirteen  Orders  of  Society 195 

Making  a  Zuni  of  Mr.  Gushing 196 

Hospitable  and  Truthful,  Dress,  Antiquity 199 

Their  Traditions 200 

Palestine  Customs  here 200 

Cushing's  Description  of  a  Festival 201 

MOQUIS. 

Like  the  Zufiis,  yet  Different 206 

Description  of  them  at  Home 207 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Living  on  nearly  Inaccessible  Heights 208 

Cozzen's  Visit  and  Personal  Observations 208 

MEXICANS. 

Like  the  Pueblos 210 

Some  of  their  Habits  and  Customs 21 1 

How  they  till  the  Soil 211 

Mexican  Women 214 

The  Dance  and  Funeral 215 

Penitenties 215 

Every-day  Life 216 

Art  of  making  Pottery 219 

III. 
MARVELS   OF   ENTERPRISE. 

"  Great  American  Desert "  and  its  Perils 220 

Fremont  raising  Flag  on  Rocky  Mountains 224 

History  of  Fremont's  Hardships 225 

Rush  to  California  in  1848 232 

Gold-Seeking  in  Colorado  in  1858 233 

Reign  of  Terror  among  Settlers 238 

Colonel  Chivington's  Battle  with  Red  Men 240 

A  Pioneer  Woman's  Hardship 246 

The  Indian  and  Buffalo  disappearing 253 

Stage  Line  across  the  Plains 256 

Progress  in  carrying  Mails 259 

The  Pony  Express 261 

Growth  of  Business 264 

Railroad  across  the  Continent 266 

First  and  Last  Depot 269 

What  Indians  thought  of  Railroads 271 

Ten  Miles  built  in  One  Day 273 

United  States  Government  vindicated 274 

Growth  of  Population • 276 

RAILROADS   OVER    MOUNTAINS. 

Through  the  Royal  Gorge 278 

Over  Marshall  Pass 280 

Trip  through  Platte  Caflon 283 


CONTENTS.  jx 


PAGB 


Heavy  Work  and  Timber  Line 285 

Through  Chalk  Creek  Canon  and  Alpine  Tunnel 287 

Around  the  Palisades 291 

The  Runaway  Train , 293 

Snowbound  and  Snow-Sheds 296 

Over  Veta  Pass  with  its  Wonders 300 

Crossing  Sangre  de  Christo  Range  and  Whiplash  Railway 301 

Through  Toltec  Tunnel c  305 

The  Garfield  Monument 308 

Dogtown  and  Beavertown 309 

Through  Animas  Canon 312 

The  Switchback  and  Loop 314 

Over  the  Raton  Mountains 317 

The  Loop  at  Tehachapi  Pass 317 

Rounding  Cape  Horn 318 

American  River  Canon  and  the  Calumet  Railroad 320 

Railway  Hospitals 323 

Missouri  River  and  Marant  Gulch  Railroad  Bridge    . 324 

Mammoth  Ferry-Boat 327 

PUBLIC    BUILDINGS. 

OMAHA,  Nebraska :  Buildings  show  Enterprise ;  School-House ;  Court- 
House  329 

PORTLAND,  Oregon  :  View  of  it,  and  Business  ;    High  School ;  Newspapers  ; 

Business  Block;  Contrast;  State-House;  Insane  Asylum 332 

TACOMA,W.  T. :  Thrift;  Hotel;  Business  Blocks  ;  House  of  Worship:  Sem- 
inary; School-House 337 

BUTTE   CITY,    Montana :    Business    Boom ;    View   of  City ;     Court-House ; 

Churches;  Schools;  Helena 341 

IDAHO  :  Origin  of  Name ;  View  of  Boise  City ;  Capitol  Square 345 

CHEYENNE,  Wyoming :  Early  History;  School-House 350 

First  and  Last  Capitol  of  Kansas 351 

GUNNISON  CITY,  Colorado :  Magic  Growth  ;  Costly  Hotel 35 1 

DENVER,  Colorado:  Desert  and  Garden;  Growth  and  Business;  Union 
Depot;  First  and  Last  Capitol;  Tabor  Opera  House;  Windsor  Hotel; 
Superior  Public  Schools ;  Dr.  Philbrick's  Testimony ;  High  School  Build- 
ing; Libraries;  Private  Schools ;  Churches 355 

GROWTH    OF    COLONIES. 

GREELEY,  Colorado  :  Its  History,  by  Cameron  ;  Foundation  Principles :  High 
School ;  First  Place  of  Worship ;  First  and  Last  Hotel ;  Business  Blocks 


x  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

and  Business ;  Anti-Saloon  Measure ;   Life  of  Meeker ;  Capture  of  Mrs. 

Meeker  and  Daughter 367 

COLORADO  SPRINGS  :  The  Antlers ;  Location  and  Description  of  the  Town ; 

College 389 

THE    PACIFIC    SLOPE. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  California :  Gold  and  Business ;  Progress  of  the  City ;  State 
Capitol ;  City  Hall ;  Palace  Hotel ;  Lick  Observatory  ;  Palatial  Residen- 
ces ;  Remarkable  Health  Resorts ;  a  Hundred  Years  from  Now  .  .  .  391 

THE    MORMON    SETTLEMENT. 
Great  Business  Enterprise ;  Description  of  Salt  Lake  City ;  Thrift  in  Agrf- 

culture 4°4 

RAILROAD    KINGS. 

BRIEF    BIOGRAPHIES:    Oakes   Ames;    Oliver   Ames;     C.   P.    Huntington; 

Charles  Crocker;  Leland  Stanford;   Sidney  Dillon;   David  H.  Moffat,      406 


IV. 
MARVELS   OF   MINING. 

Discovery  of  Gold  by  Marshall  in  1848 429 

Captain  Sutler  and  the  End 430 

Richness  of  the  Mines 431 

Remarkable  Increase  of  Population 433 

Immense  Fortunes  realized 435 

Industrial  Mining  Exposition 436 

The  Prospector 438 

Intelligence  and  Tact  Indispensable 440 

Stumbling  upon  Mines • 442 

Placer  Mining 446 

Gulch  Mining 449 

Hydraulic  Mining 449 

Lode  Mining 450 

Drift  Mining 451 

Going  into  a  Mine .     .  453 

Weights,  Values,  and  Measurements 456 

REDUCTION  OF  ORES  :  Stamp  Mill ;  Quartz  Mill 459 

Smelting 462 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE 

LEADVILLE:  Its  Sudden  Growth.  —  Location.  —  Hotel. — Art  Palace. — 
Appearance  of  City.  —  Business.  —  Schools  and  School-Houses.  —  Its 
Bullion  Output.  —  Origin  of  the  Gold-Find.  —  Bonanza  Mines.  —  Mines 

Inexhaustible 463 

PROFITS  OF  MINING 478 

Leading  Mines  of  Colorado 479 

The  Mariposa  Estate • 480 

The  Mother  Lode 483 

Richest  Mines  in  California 484 

Nuggets 487 

ARIZONA  :  Silver-Bearing.  —  Apaches  hinder.  —  Great  Mines 490 

DAKOTA,  and  its  Richest  Mines 493 

Idaho  and  its  Wealthy  Mines 494 

MONTANA,  and  its  Wonderful  Bullion  Product      .     . 496 

NEVADA:   Its  Harvest  of  Silver.  —  The  Famous  Comstock  Lode,  and  its 

Fabulous  Yield 500 

NEW  MEXICO  :  Present  Mining  Output  and  Future  Promise 503 

UTAH  :  Wealth  of  its  Gold  and  Silver  Mines.  —  Rich  Iron  Mines     ....  506 

WYOMING:  Gold.  —  Copper. — Coal 509 

OREGON  and  WASHINGTON  :  Estimate  of  the  Director  of  the  United  States 

Mint 511 

Product  of  Precious  Metals  in  the  New  West 512 

Will  the  Mines  fail  ? 514 

Additional  Facts  and  Statistics       .     .     .     ! 514 

Gems 520 

Morals  of  Mining  Camps 520 

MINING  KINGS  :  Horace  A.  W.  Tabor,  John  L.  Routt,  John  P.  Jones,  James 

G.  Fair,  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  Nathaniel  P.  Hill,  J.  F.  Matthews      ...  524 

V. 
MARVELS   OF   STOCK-RAISING. 

PARADISE  OF  STOCK-RAISERS  :  Immense  Herds  of  the  New  West.  —  Acres  of 

Grazing  Lands.  —  How  it  was  from  1850-70 535 

WHAT  CATTLE  EAT  :  Description  of  the  Grasses 538 

THE  CATTLE  RANCH  :  How  to  get  one.  —  Cattle  on  the  Range.  —  The 

Stockman  on  Lluty 541 

PROFITS  OF  STOCK-RAISING  :  Estimate  by  Dakota  Editor.  —  Hayes.  —  Fosset. 
—  One  Cow's  Family.  —  Estimate  by  Clark  and  Ulm.  —  Whigham. — 

Other  Estimates  and  Facts.  —  A  Scotchman's  Estimate.  —  Dressed  Beef,  547 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

THE  COWBOY  :  Not  understood.  —  His  Defence  by  the  Oregon  Editor.  — 

An  Incident 561 

THE  ROUND-UP:  What  it  is,  and  where. — Citizen  joining  the  Round-up. — 
Description  by  a  Kansas  Ranchman.  —  Perils  of  the  Round-up. — De- 
scription of  Horses  used.  —  Cattle-Brands. — "Cutting  Out."  —  Brand- 
ing Calves.  —  Beef  Round-up.  —  Driving  Cattle  to  Railroad.  —  "  Blabbing 
Calves."  —  The  Chicago  Stockyards.  —  Cattle  in  Extreme  Cold. — The 
Enemies  of  Cattle  and  Horses.  —  The  Herd  and  Prairie  Fire  ....  568 

THE  SHEEP  RANCH:  Extent  of  the  Business.  —  Estimate  of  Profits  by 
Hayes.  —  By  Idaho  Official.  —  By  Fossett.  —  In  Montana.  —  In  Kansas. 
—  Other  Facts.  —  Breeds.  —  Shearing.  —  Sheep  on  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road.—  Life  on  Sheep  Ranch.  —  Incidents  on  a  Ranch.  —  Latest  Sheep 
Rack.  —  Sheep  thrive  in  all  lands 594 

A  Woman  on  a  Cattle  Ranch 608 

CATTLE  KINGS:  John  H.  Iliff,  Jared  L.  Brush,  Charles  Lux,  R.  G.  Head, 

Thomas  H.  Lawrence,  John  W.  Snyder,  John  T.  Lytle 616 


VI. 

MARVELS   OF   AGRICULTURE. 

The  Facts  too  Large  far  Belief 628 

Now,  the  Facts  not  Large  enough 630 

Current  Reports  from  Journals  of  the  Day 63 1 

METHODS  OF  AGRICULTURE:  How  a  Farm  of  30,000  Acres  is  plowed.— 
Steam-Plowing.  —  History  of  Wheat-Harvesting.  —  Seeding  Wheat.  — 
Wonders  of  Harvesting.  —  Words  of  Another.  —  Threshing  by  Steam.  — 
Wheat  and  Blizzards.  —  Real  Facts  about  Land  "  Unfit  for  Cultivation  "  .  637 
KANSAS:  The  Hub. — The  Geographical  Centre. — "Corn  is  King."  —  Sound 
Corn.  —  Facts  about  Wheat.  —  The  Status  of  Oats  and  Other  Products. 

—  Income   and   Value   of  Farms.  —  The  Floral   Wealth  of  Kansas.  — 
Broom  Corn.  —  Tree-Planting 649 

NEBRASKA:  Originates  "Arbor  Day."  —  Generous  Laws.  —  Her  Example 

Contagious.  —  United  States  Government  Aids 658 

Railroad  Companies  planting  Trees 659 

MONTANA  :  Pioneer  Farmers  and  their  Success.  —  What  Agricultural  Bureau 

says.  —  Strahom  on  Montana,  with  Figures  that  won't  lie 662 

DAKOTA  :  An  Empire.  —  Exhibit  at  New  Orleans.  — Words  of  E.  V.  Smalley. 

—  A  Great  Wheat  Farm.  —  The  Dalrymple  Farm  of  75,000  Acres. — 
Amusing  and  Instructive  Letter.  —  A  Stubborn  Fact 671 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGE 

IDAHO:  Its  Great  Resources.  —  How  300,000  Acres  are  opened  to  Settlers. 

—  Testimony  of  Two  Eye-Witnesses 678 

CALIFORNIA  :  The  Cornucopia  of  the  World.  —  Its  Two  Seasons.  —  Remark- 
able Growths.  —  Words  of  Nordhoff.  —  Hop-Raising.  —  Raisin-Making. 

—  Wine-Making.  —  Orange  Culture.  —  Alfalfa.  —  Miscellaneous  Facts     .       682 
COLORADO  :    Its  Agricultural  Domain.  —  Marvellous  Parks.  —  Testimony  of 

Farmers  in  San  Luis  Park. — Reports  of  Immense  Products 695 

ARIZONA  :  Its  Large  Area  of  Fertile  Land.  —  Report  of  Several  Experiments. 

—  Other  Facts 698 

WYOMING  and  WASHINGTON  :  Proofs  of  Fertility.  —  Letter  of  a  Resident      .      699 
IRRIGATION:  Its  Advantage.  —  Remarks  of  a  Wrker.  —  Ditch  in  Kansas.— 

Irrigation  by  Flooding.  —  Great  Land  Scheme.  — Irrigating  in  San  Luis 
Park.  —  Extent  of  Irrigation  in  Colorado,  with  J.  Max  Clark's  Description 
of  it.  —  Cost  of  Irrigation.  —  Irrigating  an  Orchard  in  California.  — 
Underground  Irrigation 702 

CONCLUSION. 

What  we  have  seen.  —  God  in  this  History.  —  Why  Pilgrims  landed  on  a 
Rock  and  not  on  a  Gold  Mine.  —  Greatest  Christian  Nation  meant. — 
Result  if  Gold  instead  of  Granite.  —  View  of  A.  Carnegie.  —  The 
New  West  paying  our  Debt. — American  Credit  higher  than  English. — 
The  New  West  will  decide  our  Destiny.  —  Anglo-Saxon  Race  to  rule.  — 
One  Language  and  Purpose.  —  Remarks  of  Herbert  Spencer.  —  Intem- 
perance. —  Mormonism  and  Other  Isms.  —  Power  of  Liberty,  Education, 
and  Christianity 710 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PORTRAITS. 

PAGE 

RAILROAD  KINGS:  Oakes  Ames,  Oliver  Ames,  C.  P.  Huntington,  Charles 

Crocker,  Leland  Stanford,  Sidney  Dillon,  David  H.  Moffat 407 

MINING  KINGS  :  Horace  A.  W.  Tabor,  John  L.  Routt,  John  F.  Jones,  James 

G.  Fair,  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  Nathaniel  P.  Hill,  J.  F.  Matthews  ....  523 

CATTLE  KINGS  :  John  H.  Iliff,  Jared  L.  Brush,  Charles  Lux,  R.  G.  Head, 

Thomas  H.  Lawrence,  John  W.  Snyder,  John  T.  Lytle 623 

I.       MARVELS    OF    NATURE. 
Frontispiece. 

Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas 4 

The  Royal  Gorge 5 

The  Black  Canon 7 

Curricauti's  Needle 8 

Castle  Gate 9 

Rift  in  the  Rocks 10 

Dome  Rock 12 

The  Double  Head 13 

The  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains 14 

Gray's  Peak 15 

Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross 17 

Williams'  Canon 18 

Rainbow  Falls 19 

Devil's  Gate 20 

Cave  of  the  Winds 21 

Castle  Rock 22 

Pillar  of  Jupiter 22 

Freight  Teams  climbing  Ute  Pass 23 

Manitou  and  Pike's  Peak 24 

Pike's  Peak  Railway 26 

The  Seven  Falls 27 

Pulpit  Rock 28 


XVI  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Hanging  Rock 29 

Devil's  Slide 30 

Pulpit  Rock 32 

Hippopotamus  Rock 33 

Climbing  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado 34 

Permian  Butte 36 

Vermilion  Cliffs 38 

Pink  Cliffs 40 

Dome  and  Towers 41 

Vishnu's  Temple 43 

Marble  Canon 45 

Land  of  the  Standing  Rocks 46 

Kanab  Canon 47 

Albiquiu  Peak 48 

Casa  Colorado  Butte 50 

Forest  of  Gothic  Spires 51 

The  Needles 52 

Cabazon 53 

Painted  Columns 54 

Natural  Sandstone  Formations 55 

A  City  not  made  with  Hands 57 

Mammoth  Hot  Springs 61 

Great  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone 64 

Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone 66 

Obsidian  Cliffs 68 

Tower  Falls 69 

Kepler's  Cascades  on  the  Firehole  River 71 

Palace  Butte 73 

Old  Faithful  Geyser 74 

Bee  Hive  Geyser 76 

The  Giantess  Geyser 78 

Fan  Geyser 79 

Cathedral  Rock 84 

Bridal  Veil  Fall 85 

El  Capitan 86 

Yosemite  Falls 88 

Liberty  Cap 90 

Sentinel  Rock 91 

Section  of  a  Big  Tree 93 

Stage  Line 95 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xvii 


PAGE 


Pioneer  Cabin 06 

Gateway  to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods 99 

Bear  and  Seal 100 

The  Grandmother 101 

Balance  Rock 102 

Window  in  a  Rock 104 

Cathedral  Spires 105 

Monument  Park 107 

Group  of  Monuments 108 

The  Sentinel 109 

The  Duchess no 

Shoshone  Falls in 

San  Pedro's  Wife ;  or,  The  Woman  of  the  Period 112 

Donner  Lake 114 

Multnomah  Falls 115 

Pillars  of  Hercules 116 

Pyramid  Park 118 

Green  River  City  and  Buttes 119 

Wagon  Wheel  Gap 1 20 

Rhoda's  Arch 121 

Castellated  Rocks 122 

Grand  Coulee 123 

The  Valley  of  the  Laughing  Waters 124 

Indian  Rock '. 125 

Church,  Castle,  and  Fortress 126 

Old  Woman  of  the  Mountain 127 

Forms  of  Walls 129 

Fishing  on  the  Mountains 130 

Petrified  Forest 131 

Summit  of  Italian  Mountain 132 

Arizona  Cacti 133 

II.       MARVELS    OF   RACE. 

Cave-Town  near  the  San  Juan 138 

Ancient  Cave-Dwellings  on  the  McElmo 139 

A  Cave-Town  Restored 141 

The  Casas  Grandes  in  1859 142 

A  Tower  in  McElmo  Valley 143 

Ruins  in  the  Canon  de  Chaco 145 

Restored  Tower  and  Cliff-Houses 147 


xviii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

House  in  a  Rock  of  Montezuma  Canon  . 149 

Two-Storied  Cliff-House 150 

Cliff-House  on  the  Mancos 153 

Ground  Plan  of  Last-Named  Cliff-House 154 

Cliff-Dwellings,  Mancos  Canon 155 

Cliff-House  in  the  Canon  de  Chelly 156 

Cliff-Dwellings,  Southern  Colorado 159 

Cliff  and  Cliff-Houses 160 

Ground  Plan  of  the  Pueblo  Bonito  in  the  Chaco  Cafion 162 

A  Pueblo  restored  by  Lieutenant  Simpson 164 

El  Moro,  or  Inscription  Rock 166 

Rock  Inscriptions 167 

Vases  found  on  the  Banks  of  the  San  Juan 169 

Fragments  of  Pottery 169 

A  Drinking-Vessel  from  Zuni ' 170 

A  Drinking-Vessel  from  Old  Zuni 170 

Photograph  of  a  Human  Skull  found  One  Hundred  and  Thirty  Feet  Deep  in 

the  Earth 171 

Pueblo  of  Laguna 1 74 

Pueblo  of  Taos,  New  Mexico 175 

Adobe  Oven 177 

The  Oldest  House  in  the  United  States 178 

The  Adobe  Palace 179 

The  Oldest  Church  in  America 181 

Pueblo  and  Cart 183 

Primitive  Agriculture 184 

Burro  loaded  with  Wood 184 

An  Ancient  Wheelbarrow 185 

Acoma 185 

Pecos 186 

Zufii 189 

Zufii  Altars  and  Incantation  Scene 192 

Zuni  Vegetable  Garden 193 

Zufii  Farm-House 194 

The  Moquis  Pueblos 208 

Life  in  New  Mexico 210 

Mexican  Cart  and  Plough 211 

Mexican  Flour-Mill 212 

Adobe  Fireplace 213 

Mexican  Pottery ...  218 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xix 
III.       MARVELS    OF    ENTERPRISE. 

PAGE 

Raising  the  Flag 223 

Encountering  the  Blizzard 227 

Leaving  the  Weak  to  Die 229 

Over  the  Plains  then .     .  233 

Lightning  Express 234 

Crossing  the  Plains  with  a  Hand-Cart 236 

Perils  of  D.  C.  Oakes 237 

Capture  of  Spotted  Horse 238 

Perils  by  Indians 240 

Mrs.  Tabor's  Cabin 247 

Crossing  the  Plains  now 254 

Herd  of  Buffalo  stopping  the  Train 255 

Stage  attacked  by  Indians 257 

Snow  Skates 260 

Pony  Express  Station 262 

Pony  Express  in  Mountain  Storm 263 

Fargo  and  Wells  Express 264 

Fifty-four  Thousand  Pounds 265 

Driving  the  Last  Spike 267 

First  Office 269 

Central  Pacific  Depot 270 

Indians'  First  View  of  the  Cars 271 

Locating  the  Line 278 

Marshall  Pass 282 

Head  of  South  Park 284 

Stage  Line  over  Mosquito  Pass 285 

Near  Breckenridge  on  Way  to  Leadville 286 

Above  Timber  Line 287 

Chalk  Creek  Canon 288 

Scene  in  South  Park 289 

Around  the  Palisades 291 

The  Runaway  Train 293 

Uncompahgre  Peaks 295 

Snow  Galleries,  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 296 

Interior  of  Snow-Sheds 297 

The  Great  Snow-Plough 298 

Railroad  above  the  Clouds 300 

Crossing  Sangre  de  Christo  Range 3O1 

Fort  Garland 3°2 


XX  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


The  Whiplash 303 

Lot's  Wife 304 

Phantom  Curve 305 

Toltec  Tunnel 3o5 

West  End  of  the  Toltec  Tunnel 307 

Garfield  Monument 308 

Dogtown 309 

Beavertown 310 

Canon  of  the  Rio  Las  Animas 311 

Animas  Canon  and  Needles 313 

The  High  Line  Road  between  Black  Hawk  and  Central  City 314 

The  Loop 315 

Crossing  the  Raton  Mountains 316 

The  Loop,  Tehachapi  Pass 318 

Over  Tunnel  and  Loop 319 

Rounding  Cape  Horn 320 

American  River  Canon 321 

Central  Pacific  Railroad  Hospital 323 

Marent  Gulch  Bridge 325 

Steamer  "  Solano  " 328 

High  School  Building,  Omaha 330 

Court-House 331 

High  School  Building,  Portland 333 

Portland,  Oregon 335 

The  Kamm  Block 336 

State  House 337 

Insane  Asylum 338 

The  Tacoma  Hotel 339 

Butte  City 342 

Court-House 343 

Boise  City 347 

Capitol  Square 348 

Central  School  Building 349 

First  Capitol  of  Kansas 350 

Last  Capitol  of  Kansas 350 

Gunnison  in  1879 351 

La  Veta  Hotel,  Gunnison 352 

Union  Depot 358 

First  Capitol  of  Colorado 359 

Last  Capitol  of  Colorado 360 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xxi 

PAGE 

Tabor  Grand  Opera  House 361 

Windsor  Hotel 362 

High  School,  Denver 365 

High  School  Building,  Greeley,  Colorado 372 

First  Place  of  Worship 373 

First  Hotel 374 

Last  Hotel  —  The  "  Oasis  " 374 

Business  Block 376 

Meeker  and  his  Home 379 

Captivity  of  Mrs.  Meeker  and  Daughter 384 

The  Antlers 389 

Colorado  College 390 

State  Capitol 393 

City  Hall 394 

Palace  Hotel 395 

Residence  of  Charles  Crocker 397 

Lick  Observatory 398 

Hotel  del  Monte,  Monterey 400 

The  Raymond 401 

Hotel,  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs 402 

Assembly  Hall,  Tabernacle,  and  Temple,  Salt  Lake 405 

Monument  in  Memory  of  Oakes  Ames  and  Oliver  Ames 416 

IV.       MARVELS    OF    MINING. 

Sutler's  Mill 432 

Off  for  the  Mines 433 

Industrial  Exposition  Building 437 

Prospectors 438 

Gold-Digger  and  Deer 442 

Mine  Locomotive 443 

Finding  Gold  by  Accident 444 

Placer  Mining 445 

The  Rocker 447 

Gulch  Mining 448 

Gulch  Mining,  Idaho 449 

Flume 45° 

Lode  Mining 45 l 

Underground  Railroad 452 

Veins  of  Gold ' 453 

Going  into  a  Mine 454 


xxii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Sloping 456 

Rock-Boring  Winch 458 

Ten-Stamp  Quartz  Mill 459 

Smelting  Works  at  Argo 461 

Gold  and  Silver 462 

A  Ton  of  Pure  Silver 463 

Tabor  Grand 465 

Looking  West  from  Printer  Boy  Hill 467 

Fryer  Hill 471 

Sugar  Loaf  Mountain 473 

Drifting  and  Shaft-Sinking 477 

Red  Mountain 498 

Lake  Valley  Smelting  Works 504 

V.       MARVELS   OF   STOCK-RAISING. 

Buffalo  Grasses 539 

Kansas  Grasses 540 

Home  on  a  Cattle  Ranch 541 

Home  on  a  Cattle  Ranch 542 

A  Dug-Out 542 

Herd  on  the  Range 544 

Off  for  the  Ranch 545 

Prairie  Post-Office  . 546 

Tarantula  Nest 547 

Cattle  Seeking  Water 548 

A  Cowboy 561 

Cowboy  off  for  the  Range 562 

Death  of  a  Hero 565 

Stopping  a  Stampede 568 

Group  of  Cowboys 569 

The  "  Round-Up  " 570 

Starting  a  Laundry 572 

Picking  up  a  Coin 574 

Grub  Wagon  for  the  "  Round-Up '' 575 

Preparing  for  the  Night-Herd 577 

A  Bucking  Horse 579 

Cattle  Brand 580 

Roping  and  Cutting  Out 581 

Branding  Calves      . 582 

Chasing  a  Calf 583 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS,  xxiii 

PAGE 

Chicago  Stockyards 586 

Hauling  a  Cow  from  the  Mire 590 

A  Prairie  Fire 592 

Sheep  Ranch 595 

Captain  Jack 602 

Sheep-Shearing 602 

Bagging  Wool  for  Transportation 603 

Counting  Sheep 605 

The  Runaway  Lamb 606 

A  Novel  Sheep-Rack 607 

Going  to  the  Ranch 609 

Their  Ranch  Home 61 1 

Climbing  the  Butte 613 

VI.       MARVELS    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

Sulkey  Plough 629 

Corn  in  the  Kaw  Valley,  Kansas 630 

Millet  — Six  Weeks' Growth 632 

King  of  Harrows 634 

Ploughing  on  a  Bonanza  Farm 636 

Steam  Gang  Plough 637 

Harrowing  on  a  Bonanza  Farm 638 

Seeding  on  a  Bonanza  Farm 639 

Harvesting  on  a  Bonanza  Farm 641 

Steam  Header 642 

The  Steam  Thresher 644 

McCormick's  New  Reaper 645 

Broadcast  Sower 648 

Two-Rowed  Corn-Planter 652 

Empire  Grain-Drill 653 

Sunflowers 656 

Broom  Corn 657 

Pioneer  Farmer's  Home  in  Montana 661 

Pleasant  View  Farm 663 

Albino  Park  Farm 665 

Cart-Spreader , 666 

Hay-Tedder 667 

Automatic  Stacker  and  Gatherer 669 

Pioneer  Home  in  Dakota 670 

A  Dakota  Wheat  Farm                                           672 


xxiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

California  Farm  House 683 

Hop  Farm 685 

California  Vineyard 689 

Bee  Culture 691 

California  Orange  Grove 693 

Logging  near  Olympia 701 

Fish  Wheel  on  the  Columbia 702 

Irrigating 703 

Headgate „    .  706 

Irrigating  an  Orchard «  708 

MAPS    AND    DIAGRAMS. 

The  New  West  as  it  was „    .  220 

The  New  West  as  it  is 221 

Alignment  of  the  D.  &  R.  G.  Railroad  over  Marshall  Pass,  Colorado      ...  281 

Geographical  Centre  of  the  United  States 649 

Irrigating  in  Idaho 680 

Method  of  Irrigating 704 


AUTHORS  CONSULTED. 


UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL  SURVEY  OF  COLORADO  AND 
ADJACENT  TERRITORIES.  By  F.  V.  Hayden. 

UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY.  J.  W.  Powell,  Director.  Second  Annual 
Report,  1880  and  1881. 

ATLAS  OF  MONOGRAPHS  AND  HISTORY  OF  GRAND  CANON  OF  COLORADO.  By 
Major  Dutton. 

UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  EXPLORATIONS.     By  Clarence  King. 

UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY.  By  Lieutenant  Wheeler,  of  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers. Vol.  III.,  1875. 

UNITED  STATES  REPORT  ON  DAKOTA.     By  Lieutenant  Warren. 

UNITED  STATES  SURVEY  OF  IDAHO,  MONTANA,  ETC. 

UNITED  STATES  REPORT  ON  NEVADA  AND  ARIZONA. 

EXPLORING  EXPEDITION  FROM  SANTE  FE  TO  JUNCTION  OF  GRAND  AND  GREEN 
RIVERS,  1859.  By  Major  Macomb. 

UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUN- 
TAIN REGION.  Contribution  to  Ethnology.  J.  W.  Powell,  Director.  Vol.  IV.,* 
1881. 

MINING  STATISTICS  WEST  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  By  R.  H.  Raymond, 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Mining. 

ELEVENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  AND  GEO- 
GRAPHICAL SURVEY  OF  IDAHO  AND  WYOMING,  1877.  By  F.  V.  Hayden. 

SECOND  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  ETHNOLOGY.     By  J.  W.  Powell. 

UNITED  STATES  CENSUS  FOR  1880. 

REPORTS  TO  UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT  ON  MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES.  By  J.  Ross  Browne. 

BULLETINS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL  SURVEY  OF 
THE  TERRITORIES.  By  F.  V.  Hayden.  Vols.  I.  and  II. 

SEVENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  FOR 
1873.  By  F.  V.  Hayden. 

TENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  FOR  1876. 
By  F.  V.  Hayden. 


xxvi  AUTHORS  CONSULTED. 

EXPEDITION  TO  GREAT  SALT  LAKE  OF  UTAH.  By  H.  Stansbury,  Captain  of 
Topographical  Engineers  of  United  States  Army. 

EXPEDITION  TO  THE  SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ARKANSAS,  KANSAS,  AND  LA 
PLATTE  RIVERS.  By  Major  Z.  M.  Pope. 

NATIVE  RACES  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  By  Herbert  Howe 
Bancroft. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     By  George  Bancroft. 

PREHISTORIC  AMERICA.     By  the  Marquis  de  Nadailac. 

ATLANTIS  ;  THE  ANTEDILUVIAN  WORLD.    By  Ignatius  Donelley. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.     By  E.  V.  Smalley. 

REPORTS  OF  THE  DIRECTOR  OF  THE  MINT.    Washington,  D.C. 

PREHISTORIC  TIMES  AS  ILLUSTRATED  BY  ANCIENT  RUINS,  ETC.  By  Sir  John 
Lubbock. 

RESOURCES  OF  ARIZONA.     By  P.  Hamilton. 

TALES  OF  THE  COLORADO  PIONEERS.    By  Alice  Polk  Hill. 

THE  RESOURCES  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.     By  E.  J.  Farmer. 

THE  UNION  PACIFIC  TOURIST.     By  the  Company. 

REPORTS  OF  THE  STATE  BOARDS  OF  AGRICULTURE  OF  KANSAS,  NEBRASKA^ 
•COLORADO,  AND  CALIFORNIA. 

ARTESIAN  WELLS  ON  THE  GREAT  PLAINS.  By  Department  of  Agriculture,  Wash- 
ington. 

NUMBER  AND  VALUE  OF  FARM  ANIMALS.  By  Department  of  Agriculture,  Wash- 
ington. 

REPORTS  OF  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  CATTLEMEN  FOR  1884  AND  1885. 

REPORTS  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  DENVER  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

THE  MINING  INDUSTRY.     By  Mining  Association  of  Denver. 

CALIFORNIA  AS  IT  is.     By  San  Francisco  Call  Company. 

REPORT  OF  THE  WYOMING  STOCK-GROWERS'  ASSOCIATION. 

BITS  OF  TRAVEL  AT  HOME.    By  H.  H. 

RESOURCES  OF  COLORADO.     By  J.  Alden  Smith,  State  Geologist. 

LEADVILLE.     By  L.  A.  Kent. 

REPORTS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  KANSAS  CITY,  OMAHA,  DENVER,  SAN 
FRANCISCO,  ETC. 

THE  WONDERLAND  ROUTE  TO  PACIFIC  COAST.    By  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 

ILLUSTRATED  NEW  MEXICO.     By  M.  G.  Ritch. 

COLORADO.    By  Frank  Fossett. 

MONTANA  AND  YELLOWSTONE  PARK.     By  Robert  E.  Strahorn. 

GUNNISON,  COLORADO'S  BONANZA  COUNTY.     By  John  K.  Hallowell,  Geologist. 

HISTORY  OF  OREGON  AND  CALIFORNIA.    By  Robert  Greenhouse. 

HISTORY  OF  OREGON.     By  Dr.  William  Barrows. 

HISTORY  OF  KANSAS.     By  Professor  Spring. 


AUTHORS  CONSULTED.  xxvji 

BACHELDER'S  RESOURCES  OF  DAKOTA. 

PLAINS  OF  THE  GREAT  WEST.     By  R.  I.  Dodge. 

ADVENTURES  IN  THE  APACHE  COUNTRY.     By  J.  Ross  Browne. 

MINES  OF  COLORADO.     By  O.  J.  Hollister. 

THIRTY  YEARS'  RESIDENCE  WITH  INDIAN  TRIBES.     By  H.  R.  Schoolcraft. 

THE  TOURIST'S  OVERLAND  GUIDE.    By  George  A.  Crofutt. 

GRIP-SACK  GUIDE  OF  COLORADO.    By  George  A.  Crofutt. 

THE  NEW  WEST.     By  Charles  Loring  Brace. 

THE  AZTECS.     From  the  French  of  L.  Bjaut.     By  J.  L.  Garner. 

CAMPS  IN  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.     By  William  A.  Baillie-Grohman. 

COLORADO.     By  Bayard  Taylor. 

HEART  OF  THE  CONTINENT.     By  Fritz  Hugh  Ludlow. 

THE  YOSEMITE  GUIDE-BOOK.  Professor  J.  D.  Whitney,  State  Geologist  of  Cali- 
fornia. 

THE  YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK.    By  H.  J.  Wisner. 

HANDBOOK  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST.     By  William  R.  Bentley. 

THE  CREST  OF  THE  CONTINENT.     By  Ernest  Ingersoll. 

WONDERS  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE.     By  James  Richardson. 

A  LADY'S  LIFE  IN  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.     By  Isabella  L.  Bird. 

THREE  YEARS  IN  ARIZONA  AND  NEW  MEXICO.     By  S.  W.  Cozzens. 

RESOURCES  OF  CALIFORNIA.     By  John  S.  Hittell. 

NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTE  FE  TRAIL.     By  A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr. 

LIFE  OF  KIT  CARSON.     By  J.  S.  C.  Abbott. 

LIFE  OF  JOHN  C.  FREMONT.     By  G.  W.  Upham. 

THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  SAINTS.     By  T.  B.  H.  Stenhouse. 

FIRST,  SECOND,  THIRD,  FOURTH,  AND  FIFTH  REPORTS  OF  THE  STATE  MINERAL- 
OGIST OF  CALIFORNIA.  By  Henry  G.  Hanks. 

EL  DORADO.     By  Bayard  Taylor. 

HOLMES'  UNITED  STATES  REPORT  ON  ANCIENT  RACES  IN  SOUTHWESTERN  COL- 
ORADO. 1875  and  1876. 

JACKSON'S  UNITED  STATES  REPORT  ON  ANCIENT  RACES.     1877. 

MINING  CAMPS.     By  Charles  Howard  Shinn. 

COMSTOCK'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  PRECIOUS  METALS. 

STEWART'S  IRRIGATION. 

HYDRAULIC  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA.     By  A.  J.  Browne. 

RESOURCES  OF  MONTANA.     By  J.  S  Harris  and  W.  A.  Clark,  Commissoners. 

OREGON  AND  WASHINGTON.     By  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company. 

SPAULDING  ON  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

SCRIBNER'S  STATISTICAL  ATLAS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  NEW  WEST  — where  is  it?  what  is  it?  That  portion  of 
our  great  country  lying  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  embracing  the  States  and  Territories  of  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Dakota,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana,  Utah,  Idaho,  Ore- 
gon, Washington,  Nevada,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  California. 
Of  itself  a  mighty  empire !  This  New  West  contains  more  than  half 
the  territory  of  our  entire  country.  The  territorial  measurement  of 
the  United  States,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  is  3,025,600 
square  miles.  The  States  and  Territories  of  the  New  West  embrace 
1,532,142  square  miles  of  it,  which  is  19,342  square  miles  more  than 
one-half.  Its  magnitude  is  a  marvel.  How  few  people  from  Maine 
to  Ohio  have  supposed  that  more  than  one-half  of  the  area  of  their  / 
country  lies  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  ! 
Without  stopping  to  consult  the  map,  or  the  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
they  have  been  indulging  the  thought  that  "the  jumping-off  place" 
was  not  far  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Reliable  information  concern- 
ing the  New  West  is  of  so  recent  date  that  the  mass  of  the  people 
in  the  East  are  not  posted  as  to  the  actual  facts.  "  Facts  are  stranger 
than  fiction  "  is  a  sentiment  especially  applicable  to  this  unsettled, 
but  rapidly  settling  part  of  our  land.  Were  some  well-posted 
citizen  of  the  New  West  to  present  the  actual  facts  about  that 
domain  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern  States,  a  multitude  of 
hearers  would  denounce  him  as  a  liar,  or  pity  him  for  possessing 
more  imagination  than  judgment.  It  is  because  so  much  of  the 
truly  marvellous  is  interwoven  with  the  history  and  present  status 
of  that  Eldorado. 


xxx  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

To  recur  again  to  territorial  limits.  The  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi  is  divided  into  States  so  small,  comparatively,  that  their 
inhabitants  are  not  prepared  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  States 
and  Territories  west  of  the  "Father  of  waters."  They  are  so  accus- 
tomed to  States  containing  from  two  thousand  to  fifty  thousand  square 
miles,  that  they  are  quite  unprepared  to  comprehend  the  more  distant 
ones,  three  and  four  times  as  large.  Kansas  is  almost  ten  times  larger 
than  Massachusetts,  nearly  seventeen  times  larger  than  Connecticut, 
sixty-five  times  larger  than  Rhode  Island ;  and  its  area  more  than 
equals  the  combined  area  of  all  the  New  England  States,  with  Mary- 
land and  Delaware  added.  Colorado  is  twelve  times  larger  than 
Massachusetts,  and  twenty-six  times  larger  than  Connecticut.  One 
hundred  Rhode  Islands  can  be  set  down  upon  its  104,500  square 
miles.  One  of  its  counties  (Gunnison)  is  larger  than  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island  combined.  It  has  four  magnificent  parks,  situated 
in  the  mountains,  from  seven  thousand  to  nine  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  the  smaller  of  which  is  equal  to  two  Rhode  Islands  ;  and 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  could  be  set  within  the  larger.  These 
four  parks  contain  as  many  acres  as  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island  together.  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Montana, 
Nevada,  Dakota,  and  California  are  larger  than  Colorado.  California 
is  twenty-two  times  larger  than  Massachusetts,  nearly  three  times 
as  large  as  all  the  New  England  States,  and  its  area  exceeds  the 
united  area  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Mary- 
land. Eighteen  Massachusetts  can  be  put  into  Dakota,  with  ample 
room  left  to  receive  the  little  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Montana  is 
almost  as  large  as  Dakota,  and  can  spread  seventeen  Massachusetts 
and  one  Rhode  Island  over  its  ample  surface.  New  Mexico,  Arizona, 
and  Nevada  are  not  much  behind  their  gigantic  neighbors ;  for  their 
united  territory  is  equal  to  one-tenth  of  our  entire  national  domain, 
and  more  than  equal  to  the  combined  area  of  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  South 
Carolina,  together  with  all  the  New  England  States. 

These  are  marvellous  boundaries  ;  and  they  represent  the  grand 
scale  upon  which  our  New  Western  country  is  laid  out,  as  well  as  the 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxj 

magnitude  of  its  social,  commercial,  and  educational  enterprises. 
Nothing  is  done  there  in  a  small  way.  Human  plans  are  as  large  as 
the  States.  Nothing  is  too  large  or  too  difficult  to  be  undertaken. 
Enterprises  are  prodigious.  The  amount  of  business  is  almost  in- 
credible. Enormous  contracts,  enormous  profits,  enormous  losses, 
are  the  order  of  the  day.  "  Do  you  pretend  to  say  that  nothing  is 
impossible  in  the  work  of  constructing  railways  ?  "  inquired  a  lawyer 
in  a  Colorado  court  of  a  witness  who  was  a  railroad  official.  "  I 
pretend  to  say,"  replied  the  witness,  "that,  give  us  a  starting-point, 
and  the  objective  point  to  be  reached,  with  a  railroad  company  having 
a  plenty  of  money  behind,  we  will  reach  it."  It  is  on  such  a  magnificent 
scale  that  things  are  done  in  the  New  West.  Nothing  narrow  or 
picayune,  but  broad  and  large !  "  Our  railroad  company  wants  to 
borrow  fifty  millions"  said  a  railway  official  in  our  hearing.  FIFTY 
MILLIONS  !  That  fairly  represents  the  magnitude  of  Western  work. 
Men  make  money  by  the  million,  and  sometimes  they  lose  it  by  the 
million,  though  not  often.  They  aspire  to  the  largest  business,  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  human  effort,  and  the  quickest  possible  results. 
Hence,  the  handsomest  and  richest  city,  the  best  school  system,  the 
finest  public  buildings,  and  the  most  wonderful  growth  are  found  on 
what  was  but  recently  "  The  Great  American  Desert."  Given 
enterprise  on  a  grand  scale,  and  even  the  "  desert  will  blossom  as 
the  rose !  " 

Marvels  are  constantly  multiplying  in  the  New  West.  Surprises 
are  as  common  there  as  commonplace  is  in  the  East.  The  rapid  in- 
crease of  its  population  is  as  great  a  marvel  as  a  canon,  or  a  railroad 
over  Marshall  Pass.  The  time  is  coming  when  the  population  west 
of  the  Missouri  River  will  exceed  the  population  east  of  it.  Kansas 
can  accommodate  thirty  millions  of  people  without  being  crowded 
more  than  Massachusetts  will  be  fifty  years  from  now.  Colorado  can 
support  more  than  Kansas  ;  and  so  can  Utah,  Wyoming,  Idaho,  and 
Oregon.  Arizona,  Nevada,  and  New  Mexico  have  room  for  forty 
millions  each.  Dakota  and  Montana  can  maintain  sixty  millions 
each,  and  California  exceed  both  of  them  in  the  number  of  its  in- 
habitants. Nebraska  and  Washington  Territory  will  fall  little  behind 


xxxii  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Kansas  in  capacity  for  population.  It  is  not  without  authority,  then, 
that  some  statisticians  claim  that  the  United  States  can  support  in 
the  future,  when  her  wonderful  resources  have  had  time  to  develop, 
a  population  of  3,600,000,000  —  more  than  twice  the  number  of 
people  now  dwelling  on  the  face  of  the  earth  !  The  New  West,  with 
its  larger  territory,  its  inexhaustible  mines  of  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  iron,  and  coal,  its  richer  lands,  more  genial  and  healthier  climate, 
its  grander  scenery  and  irrepressible  spirit  of  enterprise,  must  com- 
mand its  full  share  of  these  teeming  millions.  Its  influence  must 
become  potent  to  determine,  if  not  to  control,  the  destiny  of  our 
great  Republic.  As  will  be  its  domestic,  social,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  Christian  character,  so  will  be  the  power  and  perpetuity  of  our 
national  government.  The  nation  will  rise  or  fall  with  the  New 
West.  The  latter's  increasing  wealth  and  enterprise  must  exert  a 
controlling  influence  upon  our  political  history.  The  minds  that 
manage  and  drive  there,  must  prove  more  or  less  potential  at  the 
seat  of  government.  Mind  is  master  everywhere  :  and  mind  that  is 
the  life  and  soul  of  Western  enterprise,  thrift,  and  greatness,  must 
become  masterful  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  Time  only  is  neces- 
sary to  settle  the  matter ;  and  time  is  always  an  element  of  success 
or  failure. 

Large  numbers  of  Eastern  people  suppose  that  even  now  the  "  Far 
West,"  as  they  call  the  New  West,  is  a  rude,  rough,  half-civilized 
frontier,  where  men  who  escape  the  Indian  scalping-knife  may  fall  by 
the  shot  of  the  desperado.  They  are  not  prepared  for  the  statement 
that  the  average  society  of  the  New  West  will  compare  favorably 
with  that  of  New  England,  and  that  the  most  dangerous  elements  of 
humanity  in  Western  cities,  and  even  in  mining  towns,  is  not  so  bad 
as  the  lowest  vicious  classes  of  New  York  and  other  Eastern  cities. 
But  it  is  even  so.  That  the  present  population  between  Missouri 
River  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  will  compare  favorably  with  that  of 
Eastern  States  in  virtue  and  intelligence,  is  a  marvel ;  and  the  cause 
is  to  be  found  in  Eastern  influences.  New  England  is  found  through- 
out the  New  West ;  it  is  everywhere.  Go  where  he  will,  the  traveller 
is  continually  reminded  of  New  England  institutions  and  society. 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxjii 

New  England  laid  the  foundations  there  ;  and  New  England  is  rear- 
ing the  walls  and  getting  them  ready  for  the  cap-stone.  State  capi- 
tols,  court-houses,  hotels,  city  halls,  opera  houses,  universities,  school 
buildings,  and  houses  of  worship  are  like  those  of  Massachusetts, 
only  better.  The  children's  love  and  memory  of  home  reproduce  the 
institutions  of  their  childhood,  made  more  conspicuous  by  modern 
improvements.  So  the  New  West  becomes  the  rival  of  the  East. 

We  have  used  the  phrase  "  Far  West,"  but  really  there  is  no  such 
locality  now.  We  travelled  ten  thousand  miles  in  "the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,"  but  failed  to  find  the  "  Far  West."  We  scarcely  escaped 
from  the  East.  "Are  you  from  the  East  ?"  inquired  a  stranger  of  us 
in  Colorado.  "Yes,  just  arrived,"  we  answered.  "And  so  am  I 
from  the  East,"  responded  my  questioner.  "May  I  ask  you  what 
part  of  the  East  you  came  from  ? "  we  continued.  "  From  Iowa,"  he 
said.  So  I  found  that  "far  west  "  is  east  out  there. 

Over  the  range  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  at  Gunnison  City,  a  gentleman 
accosted  us  in  a  familiar,  genial  way,  — 

"  Stranger,  are  you  from  the  East  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  and  I  expect  to  return  there  soon." 

"  I  hope  you  will  carry  a  good  report  of  us  back,  for  I  come  from 
the  East,"  he  added  pleasantly. 

"  Most  certainly  I  shall,  for  I  am  really  smitten  with  this  new 
country,"  we  answered.  "And  what  part  of  the  East  are  you  from?" 

"  Kansas,"  he  replied,  to  our  surprise.  "  I  came  here  for  my  health 
three  years  ago.  I  am  not  yet  well,  though  much  improved  ;  and  I 
may  yet  find  it  necessary  to  go  west." 

We  gave  it  up  —  there  is  no  West  really ;  the  country  has  become 
mostly  East.  The  East  dogged  our  steps  everywhere  ;  and  the  West, 
like  some  ignis  fatuns  of  the  meadow,  receded  from  our  view  as  we 
journeyed  on.  The  waggish  Coloradean  was  less  a  wag  than  he 
supposed,  when  he  said,  "  The  West !  the  West !  Why,  the  West  is 
kicked  'over  the  range'  into  the  Pacific  Ocean."  Whether  true  or 
not,  we  saw  no  one  who  admitted  that  he  had  reached  the  \Vest.  At 
the  most  distant  point  we  struck,  men  were  going  West.  We  can 
say  with  another  tourist,  that  the  further  we  went,  the  more  we  were 


xxxiv  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

strengthened  in  the  belief  that  the  wise  men  did  come  from  the  East. 
Whether  the  East  is  Westernized,  or  the  West  Easternized,  is  a 
question  the  reader  must  settle  in  his  own  mind. 

In  travelling  over  the  New  West  we  found  ample  proof  of  the 
incorrect  ideas  concerning  it  prevailing  in  the  East.  When  news  of 
the  massacre  of  Mr.  Meeker  and  his  co-workers,  by  the  Ute  Indians, 
reached  the  Eastern  States,  large  numbers  of  terrified  fathers  and 
mothers,  wives  and  sisters,  and  other  friends,  wrote  to  their  kindred 
to  hasten  home.  They  seemed  to  think  that  the  country  beyond 
the  Missouri  River  was  a  narrow  belt  over  which  a  single  tribe  of 
Indians  in  arms  could  sweep  in  bloody  triumph.  They  did  not  know 
but  that  the  massacre  occurred  at  the  very  door  of  their  relatives' 
habitations.  The  friends  might  have  been  living  in  Montana  or 
Nebraska,  or  California ;  they  did  not  know  that  it  was  not  all  the 
same  as  Colorado,  where  the  butchery  occurred.  An  Eastern  man 
sickened  and  died  in  Denver,  and  the  tidings  of  his  decease  were 
transmitted  to  his  family  friends,  the  most  afflicted  of  whom  immedi- 
ately wrote  to  inquire  whether  there  were  neighbors  to  render  him 
necessary  aid.  The  intelligence  was  returned,  "  he  had  about  forty 
tJwnsand  neighbors,"  which  was  the  population  of  Denver  at  that 
time.  Friends  had  no  idea  that  he  was  dwelling  in  one  of  the  most 
marvellous  cities  on  the  continent.  They  appeared  to  think  that, 
dwell  where  he  might,  he  must  be  isolated,  and  destitute  of  those 
comforts  which  a  dying  man  ought  to  command.  Ten  years  ago  a 
young  man  from  New  England  was  travelling  horseback  in  the  New 
West  for  his  health.  Tramps  were  in  their  glory  and  strength  in 
the  East,  at  that  time ;  so  that,  when  his  letter  came  describing  his 
journeying  alone  from  place  to  place,  his  parents,  though  intelligent 
people,  were  very  much  alarmed  ;  and  they  spoiled  a  whole  sheet  of 
paper  in  communicating  to  him  their  fears,  closing  their  well-meant 
counsel  by  emphasizing,  "  Beware  of  Tramps ! "  They  were  not  a 
little  surprised  to  receive  an  answer,  in  due  time,  "  No  Tramps 
Here !  "  As  tramps  were  then  the  principal  scare  in  New  England, 
they  supposed  that  they  must  be  a  greater  scare  in  the  "Far  West." 
Four  years  after  the  rush  to  Leadville,  a  Connecticut  gold-seeker 


INTRODUCTION'.  xxxv 

cast  his  fortunes  with  that  crowd.  His  parents  forwarded  to  him  by 
mail  various  mailable  articles,  which  they  supposed  could  not  be 
purchased  in  that  distant  mining  camp.  They  were  very  much 
surprised,  however,  to  receive  the  following  answer  to  their  inquiry, 
"Can  you  buy  rubber  boots  there?"  "  YES,  PIANOS  IF  I  WANT." 
Pianos  in  a  mining  camp,  more  than  two  thousand  miles  away,  was 
the  last  thing  they  had  dreamed  of ;  and  they  very  wisely  concluded 
that  their  knowledge  of  the  Western  country  was  somewhat  limited. 

Now,  this  book  is  designed  to  enlighten  those  who  have  never 
visited  the  New  West.  To  make  it  "  next  to  seeing,"  a  large 
number  of  pictorial  illustrations  are  introduced,  without  which  it  is 
quite  impossible  for  this  class  to  appreciate  its  marvels.  No  person 
can  understand  a  canon  by  merely  looking  at  a  stereopticon  view, 
unless  he  has  seen  a  canon  with  his  own  eyes.  But  transfer  that 
view  to  a  book,  by  the  engraver's  art,  accompanied  by  a  careful 
description,  and  the  reader  can  readily  take  it  in.  That  is  "next 
to  seeing."  Therefore,  the  numerous  illustrations  in  this  volume 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  its  plan.  Indeed,  in  one  sense,  we  may 
truly  say  that  more  dependence  is  placed  upon  the  pictorial  illustra- 
tions than  the  text,  to  convey  the  information  intended.  They  are 
not  designed  merely  for  entertainment,  but  also  for  instruction. 
Through  the  objects  illustrated,  the  character,  thrift,  and  aims  of 
the  people  appear.  Public  buildings  exhibit  the  public  enterprise 
of  town  or  city.  Good  schoolhouses  indicate  general  intelligence, 
and  the  value  put  upon  education  by  the  citizens.  Houses  of  worship 
are  the  expression  of  the  noblest  and  best  sentiments  of  the  heart. 
For  this  reason,  we  claim  a  special  mission  for  the  many  illustrations 
in  this  volume.  They  are  furnished  at  heavy  expense ;  but  are 
indispensable  to  the  author's  purpose.  It  would  be  quite  impossible 
to  learn  what  the  New  West  is  without  them. 

This  book  does  not  contain  all  the  marvels  of  the  New  West,  by 
any  means.  It  does  not  contain  all  of  even  the  marvellous  marvels. 
An  octavo  volume  is  quite  too  limited  to  admit  the  record  of  all  such 
objects,  which  abound  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  district.  Not  all  even 
of  the  marvels  selected  especially  for  this  volume  are  found  herein  ; 


xxxvi  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

for  our  space  was  filled  before  the  list  was  exhausted.  We  furnish 
marvels  enough,  however,  to  satisfy  the  most  incredulous  that  the 
New  West  has  been  very  properly  called  "WONDERLAND." 

One  feature  of  this  volume  is  the  introduction  of  the  opinions  of 
other  men  —  men  of  science,  explorers,  travellers,  pleasure-seekers, 
and  sight-seers  generally.  To  risk  our  own  opinion  alone,  based  upon 
our  personal  observation  and  research,  was  altogether  too  hazardous. 
The  danger  of  being  stigmatized  as  the  most  unscrupulous  falsifier 
of  the  age  or  land,  was  too  much  for  our  flesh  and  blood  to  face. 
So  we  have  introduced  a  large  number  of  descriptions  of  marvels  by 
other  authors,  that  readers  may  understand  we  neither  exaggerate 
nor  lie.  At  least,  dear  reader,  you  will  find  us  in  excellent  company, 
and  quite  enough  of  it,  too,  whether  you  are  inclined  to  doubt  our 
veracity  or  not.  We  are  willing  to  rest  our  reputation  for  truthful- 
ness and  honor  here,  after  the  foregoing  explanation. 

MARVELS  !  That  idea  is  adhered  to  throughout  the  work.  Marvels 
of  ancient  races  ;  marvels  of  scenery ;  marvels  of  railroading  over 
the  highest  mountains ;  marvels  of  growth  ;  marvels  of  agriculture ; 
marvels  of  mining ;  marvels  of  stock-raising;  and  other  marvels  we 
need  not  enumerate  here.  Nothing  but  marvels  occupy  these  pages. 
The  most  remarkable  things  of  the  New  West,  and  not  the  common- 
place —  these  are  what  we  lay  before  the  reader,  for  these  express 
the  possibilities  of  the  New  West  as  the  commonplace  cannot. 
Such  as  they  are,  we  commend  them  to  the  study  of  young  and  old, 
and  commit  our  humble  venture  to  the  considerate  judgment  of  the 

public. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

FRANKLIN,  MASS.,  1887. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 


I.    MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 

NATURE  has  wonderfully  diversified  our  whole  country ;  but  her 
greatest  MARVELS  are  found  between  the  Missouri  River  and 
the  Pacific  coast.  "  I  have  travelled  through  Switzerland  and  Italy, 
and  seen  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  Alpine  scenery,"  said  a  member 
of  the  British  Parliament  to  the  author,  in  Colorado  ;  "  but  I  have 
seen  nothing  that  surpasses  the  scenery  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region."  Such  is  the  almost  universal  testimony  of  tourists.  Not  a 
few  tourists  claim  that  the  scenery  of  the  New  West  as  a  whole 
surpasses  anything  to  be  seen  in  Europe  ;  and  they  have  one  fact 
to  support  their  claim ;  viz.,  the  Rio  Grande  Railroad  Company 
forwarded  many  photographic  views  of  Rocky  Mountain  scenery  to- 
the  International  Exposition,  at  Amsterdam,  Holland,  in  1883,  and 
received  the  premium  fherefor,  notwithstanding  that  Switzerland  was 
a  contestant  for  the  honor.  The  Colorado  commissioner  at  Amster- 
dam, in  conveying  the  award  to  the  Railway  Company,  said  :  "  The 
committee  specially  appointed  to  report  upon  the  several,  exhibits  of 
railroad  scenery,  which  included  a  great  number  from  Switzerland 
and  those  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway,  have  awarded  to 
the  latter  railway  the  highest  premium.  This  will  allow  the  Rio 
Grande  to  lay  claim  to  passing  through  the  finest  scenic  country 
in  the  world,  not  excepting  Switzerland,  which  heretofore  stood 
unequalled.  The  views  are  proving  one  of  the  centres  of  attraction 
to  the  thousands  who  attend  their  exhibit -daily." 

Bayard  Taylor  says  :  "  The  view  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  the 
Divide  near  Kiowa  Creek  is  considered  one  of  the  finest  in  Colorado. 
From  the  breezy  ridge,  between  scattered  groups  of  pine,  you  look 
upon  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  snowy  range,  from  the 
Sangre  de  Cristo  to  the  spurs  away  towards  Laramie.  In  variety 
and  harmony  of  form,  in  effect  against  the  dark  blue  sky,  in  breadth 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


and  grandeur,  I  know  no  external  picture  of  the  Alps  which  can  be 
placed  beside  it.  If  you  could  take  away  the  valley  of  the  Rhone, 
and  unite  the  Alps  of  Savoy  with  the  Bernese  Overland,  you  might 
obtain  a  tolerable  idea  of  this  view  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Pike's 
Peak  would  then  represent  the  Jungfrau  ;  a  nameless  snowy  giant 
in  front  of  you,  Monte  Rosa ;  and  Long's  Peak,  Mont  Blanc.  The 
altitudes  very  nearly  correspond,  and  there  is  a  certain  similarity  in 

the  forms.  The 
average  height  of 
the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, however, 
surpasses  that  of 
the  Alps." 

An  English 
author,  Wm.  A. 
Baillie-  Grohman, 
familiar  with  the 
Alpine  scenery, 
says,  in  his 
"Camps  in  the 
Rockies,"  "  Many 
of  the  Colorado 
mountains  are 
called  the  Mat- 
terhorns  of  Amer- 
ica —  with  about 
as  much  justifi- 
cation as  the 
more  diminutive 
Ben  Nevis,  or 
Snowdon,  merits 
that  name.  With 
the  Tetons,  how- 
ever, it  is  differ- 
ent ;  for  it  makes,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only  and  very  brilliant  excep- 
tion to  the  usual  dome-like  formation  of  the  Rockies.  In  shape  it  is 
very  like  the  Swiss  master-peak ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  Western  rival 
rises  in  one  majestic  sweep  of  one  thousand  feet  from  the  natural 
park,  to  an  altitude  all  but  the  same  (13,800  feet),  I  would,  in  this 
instance,  in  point  of  sublimity  give  the  palm  to  the  New  World." 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 

GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  ARKANSAS. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


CANONS. 

A  canon  is  a  mighty  gorge  cut  in  the  mountains  by  an  irresistible 
torrent  on  its  way  to  the  sea.  These  wonderful  chasms  are  numer- 
ous in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  some  of  them  almost  too  grand  to  admit 
of  description. 
Among  the  more 
widely  known  is 
"The  Grand  Canon 
of  the  Arkansas," 
its  name  being  de- 
rived from  the  Ar- 
kansas River,  which 
rushes  through  it. 
The  foregoing  illus- 
tration furnishes  a 
view  of  it  at  the 
entrance  where  the 
railroad  enters. 

This  canon  is  ten 
miles  in  length,  the 
Royal  Gorge,  which 
is  the  narrowest  and 
-deepest  point,  ex- 
tending but  a  frac- 
tional part  of  'the 
distance.  It  is  thirty 
feet  wide  at  the 
gorge,  with  the  walls 
rising  perpendicu- 
larly on  either  side 
two  thousand  feet 
skyward,  here  and 
there  a  pinnacle 
shooting  several 
hundred  feet  higher. 

°  On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  RaiJyvay. 

The  scene  is  weird,  THE  ROYAL  GORGE. 

-solemn,  and    awful, 

totally  unlike  anything  which  we  ever  '.dreamed  of.  Merriment  is 
out  of  place  there;  no  observer  1&  inclined  to  joke  as  he  looks 
up  at  the  mountain  crevice  in  which  -he  seems  confined.  The  rocky 


6  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

sides  two  thousand  feet  high !  Set  ten  Bunker  Hill  Monuments 
one  upon  another,  and  the  distance  is  barely  covered  ! 

Several  gentlemen  viewed  the  Royal  Gorge  from  the  summit 
before  any  one  dreamed  of  running  a  railway  through  it.  One  of 
the  number  —  a  clergyman  —  said  to  the  writer  :  "  We  knew  that  it 
was  an  awful  place,  for  friends  had  been  there  before  us,  and  rolled 
large  stones  over  the  precipice,  to  listen  to  their  reverberating  sound 
as  they  descended,  down,  down,  down,  their  noise  dying  away  in  the 
distance.  We  had  a  strong  desire  to  look  down  into  the  awful  gorge 
from  the  top,  so  we  crawled  on  our  hands  and  feet  to  the  dizzy  edge, 
not  daring  to  trust  ourselves  in  an  upright  position,  and  cast  one 
swift  glance  down  into  the  terrible  chasm  ;  and  that  was  enough. 
The  transient  view  was  a  shock  to  our  nerves.  We  crawled  back  as 
quickly  as  possible  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  from  that  day  to  this,  I 
never  had  the  least  desire  to  repeat  the  act.  Though  seven  years 
have  elapsed,  as  often  as  memory  recalls  the  scene,  I  feel  a  weakness 
and  shudder  running  through  my  body." 

The  "  Black  Canon  "  is  a  darker  and  more  dismal  gorge,  lying  west 
of  Gunnison  City.  Its  name  is  derived  from  the  dark,  sombre  appear- 
ance of  the  walls,  although  in  some  places  they  are  composed  of  red 
sandstone.  But  a  profusion  of  cedars  and  pines  grow  near  the  sum- 
mits and  out  of  crevices  which  the  elements  have  made  down  the 
sides  ;  and  these  cast  a  gloom  over  the  place,  creating  a  sensation  of 
loneliness  in  the  hearts  of  many  observers.  There  is  great  variety 
of  scenery  in  this  canon,  and  one  never  tires  of  looking.  Here  and 
there  small  rivulets  are  seen  issuing  from  the  craggy  sides,  two 
thousand  feet  up  and  more,  while  occasionally  a  beautiful  cascade 
leaps  over  its  rocky  bed  to  break  in  .pieces  on  the  rocks  below  ;  and, 
in  one  instance,  a  cataract  leaps  clear  of  every  rock  and  plunges 
down  the  whole  distance  to  the  railway  track.  This  canon  is  thirty 
miles  long,  —  three  times  the  length  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the 
Arkansas. 

The  waterfall  at  the  right  is  known  as  Chipeta  Falls,  and  here  the 
sides  of  the  canon  rise  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet. 
From  the  railway  the  view  is  impressive.  The  canon  is  unlike  that 
of  Arkansas  in  its  general  appearance,  and  yet  like  it  in  depth  and 
some  other  characteristics.  The  contrast  between  the  two  is  suffi- 
cient to  create  a  lively  interest  in  both,  enough  to  dispel  that  false 
idea  of  the  tourists,  "  when  you  have  seen  one  canon,  you  have  seen 
all."  Like  "the  human  face  divine,"  no  two  of  them  are  alike,  and 
hence  each  one  must  be  studied  by  itself.  We  have  entered  them 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


at  the  bottom,  middle,  and  top,  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  say  at 
which  point  there  is  most  to  enjoy.     At  either  altitude  the  impres- 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 


THE    BLACK    CANON. 


sion  can  be  described  only  by  a  series  of  exclamation  points.     "  Web- 
ster's Great  Unabridged"  is  mute  on  almost  any  canon,  and  at  almost 


8 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


any  point  thereon.     "  Comparisons  become  odious  "  as  never  before ; 
so  that  even  the  aspiring  letter-writer  feels  somewhat  insignificant 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 


CURRICAUTI'S    NEEDLE. 


in  his  vain  attempt  at  accurate  description,  and  is  inclined  to  say, 
"  Lord,  what  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?" 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE. 


Among  the  most  remarkable  objects  in  this  cafton  is  "Curricauti's 
Needle,"  which  towers  above  all  other  pinnacles.  It  stands  :as. a 
sentinel  to  guard  the  everlasting  solitude  at  its  base.  It  is  of  a  red- 
dish color  from  top  to  bottom,  and  rises  very  abruptly  into  the  air. 
A  "Cleopatra  Obelisk"  does  not  possess  more  grace  or  symmetry 
than  this  natural  wonder.  Here  and  there  a  tree  or  shrub  thrives 
in  the  crevices 
of  its  rocky 
sides.  The  cut 
is  a  fine  and  cor- 
rect representa- 
tion  of  the 
marvel. 

The  author 
of  "The  Crest 
of  the  Conti- 
nent "  says  of 
this  marvel:  "In 
the  very  centre 
of  the  canon, 
where  its  bul- 
warks are  most 
lofty  and  pre- 
cipitous, unbro- 
ken cliffs  rising 
two  thousand 
feet  without  a 
break,  and  shad- 
owed by  over- 
hanging corni- 
ces—  just  here 
stands  the  most 
striking  buttress 
and  pinnacle  of 
them  all,  — 

CURRICAUTI'S  NEEDLE.  It  is  a  conical  tower  standing  out  somewhat 
beyond  the  line  of  the  wall,  from  which  it  is  separated  (so  that  from 
some  points  of  view  it  looks  wholly  isolate)  on  one  side  by  a  deep  gash, 
and  on  the  other  by  one  of  those  narrow  side-caftons  which  in  the 
western  part  of  the  gorge  occur  every  mile  or  two.  These  ravines 
are  filled  with  trees,  and  make  a  green  setting  for  this  massive 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Ra 


CASTLE    GATE. 


10 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


monolith  of  pink  stone,  whose  diminishing  apex  ends  in  a  leaning 
spire  that  seems  to  trace  its  march  upon  the  sweeping  clouds." 

As  our  limits  will  not  allow  of  an  illustration  or  description  of  the 
Price  River  Canon,  lying  beyond  on  the  route  to  Salt  Lake  City,  we 
will  call  attention  to  its  marvellous  gateway,  called  "  Castle  Gate," 
through  which  river,  railway,  and  trail  pass. 

It  strikingly  resembles  the  "  Gateway  to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods." 
"The  two  huge  pillars  or  ledges  of  rock  composing  it,  are  offshoots 
of  the  cliffs  behind.  They  are  of  different  heights,  one  measuring 
five  hundred,  and  the  other  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  from  top  to 
base.  They  are  richly  dyed  with  red,  and  the  firs  and  pines  growing 

about  them,  but  reaching  only  to 
their  lower  strata,  render  this  color 
more  noticeable  and  beautiful.  Be- 
tween the  two  sharp  promontories, 
which  are  separated  only  by  a  nar- 
row space,  the  river  and  the  railway 
both  run,  one  pressing  closely 
against  the  other.  The  stream 
leaps  over  a  rocky  bed,  and  its 
banks  are  lined  with  tangled  brush. 
Once  past  the  gate,  and  looking 
back,  the  bold  headlands  forming 
it  have  a  new  and  more  attractive 
beauty.  They  are  higher  and  more 
massive,  it  seems,  than  when  we 
were  in  their  shadow.  Church- 
like  caps  hang  far  over  the  perpen- 
dicular faces.  No  other  pinnacles 
approach  them  in  size  and  majesty. 
They  are  landmarks  up  and  down 

the  cafton,  their  lofty  tops  catching  the  eye  before  their  bases  are 
discovered.  It  was  down  Price  River  Caflon,  and  past  Castle  Gate, 
that  General  Sydney  Johnson  marched  his  army  home  from  Utah." 

Twenty  miles  from  Denver  is  the  entrance  to  PLATTE  CANON, 
which  is  scarcely  inferior  to  the  Arkansas  Caflon  in  the  variety  and 
grandeur  of  its  scenery. 

The  walls  at  the  entrance  are  several  hundred  feet  high,  increas- 
ing in  altitude  as  the  mountain  is  penetrated.  Peak  on  peak  greet 
the  eye,  shooting  up  higher  and  higher,  as  the  train  begins  to 
climb  the  sides  of  the  mountains.  The  tourist  has  heard  that  the 


RIFT  IN   THE  ROCKS. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  1 1 

Rocky  Mountains  are  distinguished  for  the  number  of  peaks,  and 
now  he  has  ocular  demonstration  of  it.  With  a  single  sweep  of  his 
vision  he  can  count  thirty,  forty,  and  even  sixty  peaks,  piled  one  above 
another,  clear  back  to  the  sky. 

Personal  observation  alone  can  enable  one  to  realize  the  crooked- 
ness of  the  canon.  It  is  necessarily  crooked  beyond  all  ordinary  con- 
ception of  crookedness  ;  so  that  crookedness  becomes  one  of  the  grand 
novelties  to  enjoy.  We  venture  to  affirm  that  the  traditionary  stick 
that  was  so  crooked  it  couldn't  lie  still,  was  not  so  crooked  as  this 
canon. 

The  eye  is  frequently  delighted  by  such  scenes  as  the  cut  on  the 
previous  page  illustrates,  the  monumental  stones  or  spires  often  num- 
bering a  half-dozen  in  the  cluster. 

A  writer  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  this  canon  says  :  "  For  full 
fifty  miles  there  is  a  succession  of  complex  curves,  and  beetling 
heights  coming  almost  together  above  and  crowding  the  track  from 
one  side  to  the  other.  Nature  has  shaped  the  rocks  so  oddly  that 
giants  seemingly  stand  guard  by  their  castles  perched  dizzily  above, 
but  scorning  to  molest  the  rabble  going  uninvited  through  their 
possessions.  It  is  a  fascinating  sight  to  watch  the  engine,  which 
writhes  along  as  though  its  gleaming  fire  were  an  inward  life,  its 
puffs  a  pulse,  and  the  sparks  flying  crimson  against  the  walls,  drops 
of  agony.  At  times  the  cliff  is  directly  ahead.  Unwittingly  you 
brace  for  the  shock  to  come  when  the  cars  shall  be  dashed  to  pieces 
against  its  flinty  face.  But  with  a  quick  turn  to  the  right  or  left,  the 
passage  by  is  made  in  safety.  The  train  hurries  by  picturesque 
hamlets,  among  which  Estabrook  Park  is  perhaps  the  most  delightful, 
and  up  Kenosha  Hill  by  a  miracle  of  engineering,  and  from  the  top 
you  behold  such  a  panorama  as  was  never  seen  before  from  the 
windows  of  a  railway  coach." 

Boulder  Canon,  in  which  Dome  Rock  is  found,  is  sixteen  miles 
in  length,  wild  and  grand.  A  tourist  (H.  H.)  says  :  "To  see  Boulder 
Canon  aright,  one  must  enter  it  from  the  Nederlarids  Meadows, 
at  its  upper  mouth ;  and  to  reach  the  Nederlands  Meadows  from 
Denver,  one  must  go  by  rail  to  the  Clear  Creek  Canon,  and  drive 
across  from  Central  City  to  Nederlands.  The  road  lies  through  tracts 
of  pines  and  over  great  ridges,  grand  in  their  loneliness.  From 
every  ridge  is  a  new  view  of  the  '  Snowy  Range '  to  the  west  and 
north.  In  strong  sunlight  and  shadow,  these  myriads  of  snow  peaks, 
relieved  against  the  blue  sky,  are  of  such  brilliant  and  changing 
colors  that  it  must  be  a  very  dull  soul  indeed  that  could  look  on 


12 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


them  without  thinking  of  many-colored  jewels.  On  the  day  that  I 
saw  this  view,  James'  Peak  was  covered  with  snow,  and  stood  in  full 
light.  Its  sharp,  pyramidal  lines  looked  as  fine  cut  and  hard  as  if 
the  mountains  had  but  just  been  hewn  from  alabaster." 

CLEAR    CREEK    CANON    deserves    mention  with   the   remarkable 

canons  already 
named.  Mr. 
Fossett  says: 
"The  most  en- 
tertaining trip 
that  can  be 
made,  and  the 
quickest  and 
cheapest,  is  that 
by  way  of  the 
Colorado  Cen- 
tral Railway 
from  Denver  to 
the  mining  cit- 
ies of  Central, 
Black  Hawk, 
Idaho,  and 
Georgetown.  In 
this  the  tourist 
gets  the  great- 
est variety  for 
the  least  expen- 
diture of  money 
that  any  single 
excursion  af- 
fords which  act- 
ually enters  the 
mountains  any 
distance.  While 
Clear  Creek 
Cafion  [through 
which  the  afore- 
said cities  are 

reached]  may  not  compare  with  the  Royal  Gorge  in  massive  gran- 
deur, the  tourist  can  derive  unalloyed  pleasure  from  the  many  and 
varied  sights  that  continually  offer  themselves  en  route  and  at  adja- 
cent points  on  either  hand." 


DOME   ROCK. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


This  canon  is  twenty  miles  from  Denver,  and  was  the  first  ever 
penetrated  by  a  railway.  At  the  entrance,  the  walls  rise  about  one 
thousand  feet,  so  near  together  that  a  child  can  throw  a  stone  from 
one  side  to  the  other.  It  is  exceedingly  tortuous,  jagged,  and  grand. 
The  rocky  walls  often  rise  to  two  thousand  feet,  and  even  to  twenty- 
five  hundred  feet,  in  sublime  proportions,  and  nature  has  carved 
them  into  many  fantastic  forms.  Henry  James,  Esq.,  says :  "  At 
times  the  canon  widens,  but  again  it  comes  together  like  two  mighty 
jaws.  Some  marvellous  turns  are  made,  until  in  confusion  you  won- 
der which  way  you  are  going,  and  if  such  a  series  of  doubling  back 
will  not  ultimately  lead  to  the  starting-point."  He  continues  :  "  For 
the  miles  of  amazing,  overpowering  height  of  cliffs,  and  their  near 
approach  to  or  absolute  verticality  ;  for  majestic,  awe-inspiring  gran- 
deur of  projecting  masses  along  the  mighty  walls,  and  the  domes  of 
bare  gray  or  brown  granite  that  tower  above,  combined  with  the 
peaceful,  indeed  exquisite,  beauty  of  the  floor  of  its  upper  valley  so 
many  thousand 
feet  below  the 
surrounding 
silvery  sum- 
mits, as  well 
as  for  the  ma- 
jesty of  the 
forests  of  pine 
and  spruce 
that  clothe  the 
mountains  as 
far  as  the  eye 
can  reach ;  and 
for  the  absorb- 
ing interest  of 
vast  gold  and 
silver  mining 
enterprises  lin- 
ing it  for  miles 
at  a  stretch,  and  in  its  pos- 
session of  delicious  healing 

waters,— for  all  these  things  THE  DOUBLE  HEAD. 

Clear     Creek     stands    une- 
qualled by  any  canon  penetrated  by  a  railway  on  the  whole  earth. 
An  hour's   ride   from    Denver,   over  the    Colorado    Division  of   the 


14  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Union  Pacific,  takes  the  tourist   fairly  into  it,   and  for  forty  miles 
he  is  afforded  a  spectacle  of  surpassing  splendor." 

The  Double  Head  is  a  hanging  rock  as  well  as  a  double  head,  lo- 
cated in  a  very  picturesque  part  of  the  canon.  Double-faced  humans 
are  more  common  in  flesh  than  they  are  in  stone,  because  they  are 
more  easily  wrought  in  soft  material,  we  suppose.  Hence,  they  are 
more  remarkable  in  stone.  Let  the  reader  study  the  illustration 
thoughtfully,  and  his  wonder  over  such  natural  phenomena  will 
increase. 


THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

That  the  above  bit  of  sculpture  was  well  named  by  miner  or  tour- 
ist, the  reader  must  admit.  The  features  of  the  "old  man"  stand 
out  in  bold  relief,  even  to  the  left  ear.  There  have  been  other  "  old 
man  of  the  mountains"  in  different  parts  of  our  country, — one  of 
them  in  New  England,  —  but  none  of  them  can  compare  with  this  in 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  15 

striking  resemblance.  The  venerable  patriarch  can  add  to  his  nov- 
elty by  laying  claim  to  the  fact  that  he  was  settled  here  before 
Columbus  landed  on  these  shores. 


GRAYS  PEAK. 


It  is  through  Clear  Creek  Canon  that  Georgetown  is  reached,  from 
which  place  parties  easily  ascend  to  the  summit  of  Gray's  Peak,  which 
is  two  hundred  feet  higher  than  Pike's  Peak.  Gray's  is  14,341  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea  —  the  highest  mountain  peak  in  the  United 
States  except  Blanca.  Here  is  the  "dome  of  the  continent,"  as  all 
who  ascend  to  the  top  of  Gray's  Peak  fully  realize,  when,  in  a  clear 


1 6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

day,  they  take  in  the  magnificent  view  of  two  hundred  miles  and 
more  in  every  direction. 

Henry  James,  Esq.,  describes  the  view  from  Gray's  Peak  most 
graphically.  "A  wavering  line,"  he  says,  "stretches  back  to  the 
valley,  and  the  tourist  wonders  vaguely  if  he  has  just  come  over  it. 
The  horse  is  panting  as  he  takes  the  last  turn,  and  his  shoes  click 
upon  the  granite  jewels  of  the  continental  crown.  Gray's  Peak  is 
beneath  you.  The  sea  is  14,41 1  feet  below  your  level.  Hats  off ! 
The  genius  of  this  sublime  solitude  demands  homage.  They  who 
have  traversed  the  globe  say  that  it  affords  but  one  such  prospect. 
A  pictured  landscape  so  mighty  in  conception  that  it  overpowers,  yet 
harmonious  as  an  anthem  in  all  its  infinite  diffusion  of  color  and 
form  ;  framed  only  by  the  limit  of  the  eye's  vision ;  a  picture  where 
the  lakes  gleam  and  the  rivers  flow,  the  trees  nod,  and  the  cloud  ships 
clash  in  misty  collision  with  the  peaks  which  have  invaded  their  realm, 
while  the  moving  sun  floods  it  with  real  life  and  warmth.  How  like 
an  atom  the  beholder  feels  !  Northward,  southward,  westward,  ramify 
the  spurs  of  the  range,  till  remoteness  swallows  them  up.  Pike's  Peak 
is  a  neighbor.  Lincoln's  and  Long's  seem  near.  The  sharpness  of 
the  Spanish  peaks  —  Terra's  Twins  —  near  New  Mexico,  is  distinct, 
while  the  Uintah  Mountains  rise  up  faintly  in  the  distance  of  Utah. 
Here  and  there  are  depressions  where  parks  and  valleys  are.  Every 
park  in  the  State  can  be  located.  You  may  trace  the  course  of  rivers 
and  the  site  of  lakes.  You  can  see  the  little  cities  in  sheltering  nooks, 
and  pathways  from  them  up  the  mountain  side.  You  detect  the  glint 
of  the  Holy  Cross.  You  perceive  the  South  Park  Railway  worming 
along  the  valley  of  the  Blue.  You  overlook  Decatur  and  Dillon  and 
Chihuahua.  You  note  the  hovering  dusk  which  broods  above  Lead- 
ville.  Eastward  are  the  plains  —  a  waterless  ocean  —  each  town  a 
fleet,  each  house  a  sail,  each  grove  an  island.  Denver  is  seen,  like 
the  mythical  city  of  the  mirage." 

Close  observation  of  the  cut  will  show  Mr.  James  to  the  reader,  on 
his  way  to  the  summit. 

The  writer  whose  description  of  the  view  from  Gray's  Peak  we 
quoted  referred  to  the  "Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross."  It  is  not  a 
fancy  picture  —  it  is  a  real  mountain,  rightly  named,  situated  in  the 
vicinity  of  Leadville  and  Red  Cliff.  "The  sacred  symbol  which 
gives  the  name  to  the  '  Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross  '  is  derived  from 
two  great  and  deep  depressions,  one  vertical,  and  one  horizontal, 
which  cross  each  other  nearly  at  right  angles  on  the  bare  eastern 
slope  of  the  mountain,  which  in  winter  become  filled  with  great 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


masses   of   snow.       During   the   summer  the   snows   around   these 
depressions  are  melted  away,  leaving  the  rest  naked,  and  the  snowy 


emblem  of  human 
faith  and  hope  stands 
gleaming  in  white 
splendor  against  the 
azure  sky,  as  if  Na- 
ture were  thus  con- 
secrating the  mountains  to  her  God, 
reflects  the  sun's  glories  above  it." 

WILLIAMS'  CANON  is  entered  from  Mani- 
tou,  Colorado.  It  is  a  narrow  gorge,  so  nar- 
row that,  in  one  place,  scarcely  a  single  inch 
of  space  separates  the  carriage  from  the 

walls  on  either  side.     The  tortuous  road  winds  itself  through  scenery 
as  grand  as  it  is  versatile.     Tall  cliffs  and  monumental  piles  of  rock 


18 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


WILLIAMS'    CANON. 


rise,  one  upon  another,  in  wonderful  profusion,  "  worn  by  some  fierce 
torrents  of  long  ago,  until  now .  they  show  on  their  steep  facades 
the  deep  scars  which  whirling  rocks  have  formed." 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


"RAINBOW  FALLS"  is  a  very  beautiful  cascade,  in  one  of  the 
most  romantic  parts  of  the  wild  Ute  Pass.  Its  name  is  derived  from 
the  fact  that,  at  a  certain  time  of  day, 
when  the  sun  reaches  a  given  meridian, 
a  perfect  rainbow  appears  on  the  sheet 
of  falling  water.  • 

Two  miles  up  the  canon  is  the  "  Cave 
of  the  Winds  "  (p.  21),  a  remarkable  sub- 
terranean cavern  in  which  a  hundred 
chambers  have  been  explored,  some  of 
them  very  high  and  long.  In  these  cham- 
bers are  countless  stalactites  and  stalag- 
mites, which  glisten  in  the  light  of 
torches  which  explorers  carry,  presenting 
a  dazzling  and  fairy-like  appearance. 

Cave  of  the  Winds  is  a  great  curios- 
ity to  all  tourists,  and  they  put  them- 
selves to  great  inconvenience  in  order 
to  see  it.  It  is  wild  in  itself,  and  every- 
thing around  it  is  wild  also.  A  party 
on  their  way  thither  were  overtaken  by 
a  tempest  in  the  mountains,  and  one 
of  the  number  acquaints  us  with  the 
scene  as  follows  :  — 

"  Once,  in  a  ramble  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds,  we  were  weather- 
bound for  an  hour  in  a  lime-burner's  hut  by  the  side  of  the  trail, 
while  a  furious  hail-storm  rolled  through  the  canon,  and  five  minutes 
after  the  majestic  columns  in  the  Temple  of  Isis,  a  thousand  feet 
above  our  heads,  were  blazing  and  glowing  as  if  under  some  reflected 
shower  of  sunshine.  The  flying  clouds  lifted  here  and  there  from 
peaks  and  battlements ;  the  inspired  air  tingled  in  every  vein  ;  the 
heavenly  glow  and  radiance  flashed  into  our  souls ;  and  ten  minutes 
after  we  were  in  the  midst  of  another  swift  storm  of  hail,  or  snow, 
or  rain,  as  if  sunshine  never  belonged  to  the  world.  ...  It  was  not 
unusual,  through  these  days,  to  have  four  alternate  storms  in  the 
course  of  a  single  hour,  with  clear  skies  between  ;  but  owing  to  the 
brilliant  rarity  of  the  air,  we  were  never  sure  it  was  raining  uncil  we 
felt  or  actually  saw  it.  And  this  when  it  was  pouring  a  ton  to  the 
square  inch." 

"  How  the  giant  element 
From  rock  to  rock,  leaps  with  delirious  bound!" 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Ra 
RAINBOW  FALLS. 


20  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

A  very  remarkable  locality  in  Clear  Creek  Canon,  near  George- 
town, has  been  named  "Devil's  Gate."  It  is  spanned  by  a  railroad 
bridge  at  a  dizzy  height,  from  which  tourists  enjoy  a  very  enchanting 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P.  Railroad. 

DEVIL'S   GATE. 


view.  The  strange  wildness  of  the  scenery,  a  mixture  of  jagged- 
ness,  confusion,  and  desolation,  suggest  badness,  and  hence  the  bad 
name. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


21 


Castle  Rock  is  a  huge  formation,  so  much  like  an  old  feudal  castle 
as  to  suggest  its  present  name.  An  arch  underneath,  like  an  ample 
doorway,  renders  it  a  more  curious  and  notable  object.  Water,  no 
doubt,  that  powerful  agent  of  nature,  imprisoned  within,  found  this  the 
most  feasible  way  of  getting  out,  and  hence  the  arch.  Mythology 
would  not  be  troubled  to  find  here  an  abode  of  the  gods,  whose 
presence  once  converted  cave,  dell,  rock,  ravine,  and  mountain  peak 
and  gorge  into  strange  thrilling  history. 

Another  curiosity  in  this  canon  is  the    "Pillar  of  Jupiter,"  — so 

named  by  tourists, 
— a  mammoth  rock, 
or  ledge,  worn  by 
the  elements  into 
its  present  impos- 
ing appearance. 

The  pedestal  on 
which  nature  has 
erected  this  statue 
is  so  distinct  that 
the  statue  itself 
becomes  more  strik- 
ing. It  is  a  curious 
production,  or  freak 
of  nature,  as  some 
would  call  it,  con- 
tributing another 
object  of  interest 
to  the  great  variety 
which  everywhere 
keeps  the  vision 
lively. 

Dr.  Taylor 
writes  of  Pike's 

Peak,  as  seen  from  Denver,  as  follows:  "To  the  southwest,  Pike's 
Peak,  the  mighty  milestone  and  monument  to  thousands  of  the 
old  miners,  stands  erect  and  flat-footed  upon  the  world.  It  is 
seventy-five  miles  to  its  base,  but  the  view  is  as  clean-cut  as  a 
cameo.  Should  I  tell  anybody  it  is  13,985  feet  high,  it  would 
be  no  very  satisfactory  information ;  should  I  say,  you  must  climb 
about  twelve  miles  to  reach  the  summit,  it  would  be  better ;  but 
suppose  the  reader  swings  a  little  water  over  a  fire  on  the  sea- 


CAVE  OF  THE  WINDS. 


22 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


CASTLE    ROCK. 

ter  than  the  tea  strong 
our  grandmothers  clinked 
after   a  big   washing. 
How  often  lofty  people 
forget   that    ebullition 
does   not   always    mean 
earnestness  and  fervor. 
Boiling  water    is    not 
necessarily  hot  water." 

"Ute  Pass"  is  the 
world-renowned  wagon 
trail  from  Manitou  to 
Leadville,  a  narrow  de- 
file leading  over  the 
mountains  in  a  circuit- 
ous way.  It  was  original- 
ly an  Indian  trail  over 
which  the  red  men  trav- 
elled to  and  from  the 
Manitou  Valley.  When 
gold  was  discovered  at 


beach,  metonymically,  it  will 
boil  at  *2 1 2°.  Now  pick  up 
kettle,  kindling-wood,  and 
thermometer,  and  begin 
your  climb.  At  fifty-three 
hundred  feet  the  water  is  in 
active  trouble  at  202°.  Play- 
ing Longfellow's  young 
man,  Excelsior,  again,  at  the 
altitude  of  10,600  feet  it  is 
in  a  lively  state  of  unrest 
at  192°.  Another  lift  to 
the  top  of  the  Peak,  and  the 
peripatetic  kettle  makes  a 
tambourine  of  the  lid,  and 
plays  so  mild  a  tune  that 
what  scalded  you  so  prompt- 
ly and  .satisfactorily  down 
by  the  sea,  will  be  no  hot- 
enough  to  "bear  up  an  egg,"  wherewith 
up  their  hearts  and  limbered  their  tongues 


PILLAR    OF  JUPITER. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  23 

Leadville,  and  the  rush  for  that  Eldorado  fairly  set  in,  this  trail  was 
converted  into  a  passable  road,  at  an  expense  of  $15,000,  over  which 
the  immense  supplies  were  carried  to  that  most  famous  of  all  mining 


FR2IGHT  TEAMS  CLIMBING  UTE  PASS. 


towns,  Colorado  City  being  headquarters  for  supplies.  Two  thou- 
sand horses  and  mules  were  employed  to  convey  the  necessaries 
of  life  over  the  "Pass"  to  that  rapidly  growing  population,  and 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


still  there  was  privation,  and  even  suffering,  among  the  gold-seek- 
ers because  of  scant  supplies.  As  soon,  however,  as  rail  com- 
munication with  the  place  was  established,  the  quantity  and  price 
of  goods  found  their  proper  level.  Twenty-five  cents  a  pound  for  hay 
was  a  common  price  when  it  was  carried  over  the  pass,  but  the  rail- 
road reduced  it  at 
once  to  three,  and 
even  less.  The 
illustration  also 
furnishes  a  good 
view  of  Rainbow 
Falls. 

Another  says  of 
Ute  Pass:  "The 
oftener  one  goes 
through  this  pass, 
the  grander  it 
seems.  There  are 
in  it  no  mere  sem- 
blances, no  delu- 
sions of  atmos- 
pheric effect.  It 
is  as  severely, 
sternly  real  as 
Gibraltar.  Sun- 
light cannot  soft- 
en it  nor  storms 
make  it  more 
frowning.  High, 
rocky,  inaccessi- 
ble, its  walls  tower 
and  wind  and  seem 
at  every  turn  to 
close  rather  than 
to  open  the  path 

through    which    the    merry    little    stream    comes    leaping,   foaming 
down.  .  .  . 

For  a  short  distance  the  road  is  narrow  and  perilous  —  on  strips 
of  ledges  between  two  precipices,  or  on  stony  rims  of  the  crowded 
brook,  which  it  crosses  and  recrosses  twenty-four  times  in  less  than 
three  miles.  Then  the  Pass  widens,  the  rocky  walls  sink  gradually, 


On  the  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 

MANITOU   AND    PIKE'S    PEAK. 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE.  2$ 

round  and  expand  into  lovely  hills  —  hill  after  hill  bearing  more  and 
more  off  to  the  right  and  more  and  more  off  to  the  left  —  until  there 
is  room  for  bits  of  meadow  along  the  brook  and  for  groves  and  grassy 
intervals  where  the  hills  join  ;  room  and  at  the  same  time  shelter, 
for  the  hills  are  still  high.  .  .  . 

We  came  out  at  sunset  on  a  ridge  from  which  we  could  look  down 
into  a  meadow.  The  ridge  sloped  down  to  the  meadow  through  a 
gateway  made  by  two  huge  masses  al  rocks.  All  alone  in  the  smooth 
grassy  forest  they  loomed  up  in  the  dim  light,  stately  and  straight  as 
colossal  monoliths,  though  they  were  in  reality  composed  of  rounded 
bowlders  piled  one  above  another." 

Pike's  Peak  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  L.  M.  Pike,  who  discov- 
ered it  in  1806.  The  ascent  is  wearisome  and  somewhat  perilous, 
passing,  as  the  trail  does,  over  rugged  hills  and  the  precipitous  walls 
of  narrow  canons.  The  ascent  is  made  from  Manitou,  which  nestles 
at  its  base,  as  indicated  by  the  cut.  The  transition  is  very  abrupt 
from  a  dense  pine  forest  to  the  bare,  bald,  storm-beaten  mountain 
side  where  no  vegetation  appears,  except  grass  here  and  there  in 
patches  among  the  rocks.  The  summit  is  nearly  level,  embracing 
about  sixty  acres.  Near  it  appears  a  faint  yellow  blossom  mingled 
with  purple,  often  in  great  profusion,  so  near  to  the  snow  that  blos- 
soms may  be  plucked  with  one  hand  and  snow  with  the  other.  Two 
mighty  gorges  extend  from  the  top  almost  to  the  base,  one  of  which 
can  be  seen  at  the  distance  of  eighty  miles. 

"Pike's  Peak"  was  the  watchword  of  the  gold-seekers  in  1859, 
who  flocked  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  to  the  region  which 
that  famous  landmark  overlooked.  The  next  year  the  product  of  the 
mines,  within  the  Pike's  Peak  district,  amounted  to  four  million  dol- 
lars. In  August,  1860,  the  population  was  sixty  thousand;  and,  two 
months  later,  nearly  two  million  dollars  were  invested  in  quartz-mills, 
—  a  fact  which  shows  the  rapidity  of  settlement. 

The  view  of  Pike's  Peak  from  Manitou  is  exceedingly  impressive. 
The  town  is  about  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  but  the 
mountain  rises  more  than  eight  thousand  feet  above  it  in  unparalleled 
grandeur.  Lesser  peaks  surround  it  in  magnificent  proportions, 
and  magnify,  by  contrast,  the  majesty  of  their  towering  monarch. 

Private  enterprise  has  undertaken  and  will  complete  a  railway 
to  the  top  of  the  peak,  where  the  United  States  Signal  Service  has 
had  a  station  for  several  years.  The  following  cut  illustrates  the 
method  of  ascending  the  great  peak  by  rail,  running  thirty  miles  to 
ascend  two. 


26 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


The  Pike's  Peak  Railway  will  be  the  most  notable  piece  of  track 
in  the  world.  It  will  ascend  two  thousand  feet  higher  than  the  Lima 
and  Oroya  Railway  in  Peru.  Its  whole  length,  thirty  miles,  will  be 
a  succession  of  complicated  curves  and  grades,  with  no  piece  of 
straight  work  longer  than  three  hundred  feet. 

CHEYENNE  CANON  is  situated  three  miles  from  Colorado  Springs, 
and  possesses  many  grand  features.     We  shall  occupy  space  only  to 
call  attention  to  the  one  marvellous  object  that  makes  it  famous,— 
The  Seven  Falls. 

One  who  has  often  penetrated  this  canon  to  gaze  enraptured  upon 
its  wonderful  Seven  Falls,  says  :  "  In  Cheyenne  Canon,  at  its  extreme 
end,  a  volume  of  water  dashes  over  a  dizzy  height,  and,  leaping  from 

ledge  to  ledge,  reaches  its 
granite  basin,  and  lingers 
there  awhile  to  recover  from 
its  fall  before  speeding  on 
again  toward  the  river  lead- 
ing across  the  plains  to  the 
distant  sea.  This  canon, 
only  three  miles  from  town, 
is  entered  after  climbing 
to  the  top  of  a  sloping  mesa, 
which  commands  a  view  of 
the  city  and  plains.  A  nar- 
row path  penetrates  the 
mountains,  and  leads 
through  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  trees  to  where  stern, 

rocky,  vari-c.olored  heights  press  their  huge  shoulders  into  the 
narrow  way,  and  render  climbing  necessary  for  those  who  would 
go  still  deeper  into  the  solitudes  of  the  Rockies.  Tall  trees,  up- 
rooted by  the  madly  rushing  stream  which  flows  through  the 
caflon,  and  thrown  down  by  the  fierce  winds,  which,  at  some 
time,  haye  swept  through  the  narrow  gorge,  lie  across  the  path 
in  wild  disorder.  There  is  a  balmy  fragrance  in  the  air ;  a  low 
rumble  fills  the  place  as  the  water  leaps  over  the  fallen  bowl- 
ders which  beset  its  path ;  there  are  ever-varying  shades ;  and 
now  and  then  a  glimpse  is  had  beyond  the  cafton's  mouth,  of  the 
plains,  which  are  lighted  by  the  sunlight,  while  the  gorge  is  dark 
and  cold." 

ECHO  CANON  is  entered  by  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  at  Castle 


PIKE'S  PEAK  RAILWAY. 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE, 


Rock  in  the  Wa- 
satch  Mountains, 
Utah.  It  embraces 
some  of  the  wildest 
and  most  majestic 
scenery  of  the  New 
West,  together  with 
several  of  the  most 
original  and  inter- 
esting objects  which 
nature  ever  carved. 
These  begin  at  the 
very  mouth  of  the 
canon,  as  the  cut  on 
the  following  page 
shows. 

Nature  builds  on 
a  magnificent  scale 
at  the  West,  and  so 
her  rock-pulpit,  at 
the  opening  of  Echo 
Canon,  is  none  of 
your  modern  toy  af- 
fairs behind  which 
an  orator  can  hide 
all  but  his  head.  It 
is  made  to  stand 
upon,  though  tow- 
ering high  into  the 
air ;  and  the  imagi- 
nary preacher  occu- 
pying it  is  supposed 
to  address  the  mul- 
titude who  pass 
down  the  canon  by 
generations.  It  is  a 
fitting  introduction 
to  the  scenes  that 
follow. 

Mr.  Crofutt  says  : 
"The  beauties  of 


THE  SEVEN  FALLS. 


28 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


Echo  Canon  are  so  many,  so  majestic,  so  awe-inspiring  in  their 
sublimity,  that  there  is  little  use  in  calling  the  traveller's  atten- 
tion to  them.  .  .  .  Four  miles  below  Hanging  Rock  the  walls 
rise  in  massive  majesty,  the  prominent  features  of  the  canon. 
Rain,  wind,  and  time  have  combined  to  destroy  them,  but  in 
vain.  Centuries  have  come  and  gone  since  that  mighty  con- 
vulsion shook  the  earth  to  its  centre,  when  Echo  and  Weber 
canons  sprung  into  existence, — twin  children,  whose  birth  was 
heralded  by  throes  such  as  the  earth  may  never  feel  again ;  and 
still  the  mighty  wall  of  Echo  remains,  bidding  defiance  alike  to  time 
and  his  co-laborers,  the  elements  ;  still  hangs  the  delicate  fret  and 
frost  work  from  the  walls ;  still  the  pillar,  column,  dome,  and  spire 

stand  boldly  forth  in 
all  their  grand,  wild, 
and  weird  beauty  to 
entrance  the  traveller, 
and  fill  his  mind  with 
wonder  and  awe."  1 

Another  says  :  "  A 
canon  is  only  a  valley 
between  the  high  hills  ; 
that  is  all,  though  the 
word  seems  such  a  loud 
and  compound  mys- 
tery of  warfare,  both 
carnal  and  spiritual. 
But  when  the  valley  is 
thousands  of  feet  deep,  and  so  narrow  that  a  river  can  barely  make 
its  way  through  by  shrinking  and  twisting  and  leaping ;  when  one 
wall  is  a  mountain  of  grassy  slope,  and  the  other  wall  is  a  mountain 
of  straight,  sharp  stone  ;  when  from  a  perilous  road,  which  creeps 
along  on  ledges  of  the  wall  which  is  a  mountain  of  stone,  one  boks 
across  to  the  wall  which  is  grassy  slope,  and  down  at  the  silver  line 
of  twisting,  turning,  leaping  river,  —  the  word  canon  seems  as  inade- 
quate as  the  milder  word  valley.  This  was  Echo  Canon.  We  drew 
near  it  through  rocky  fields  almost  as  grand  as  the  canon  itself. 
Rocks  of  red  and  pale  yellow  color  were  piled  and  strewn  on  either 
hand  in  confusion  so  wild  that  it  was  majestic  ;  many  of  them  looked 
like  gateways  and  walls  and  battlements  of  fortifications ;  many  of 

1  Crofutt's  Overland  Tourist  is  indispensable  to  the  traveller.    It  contributes  information, 
direction,  and  interest  to  his  travels. 


PULPIT  ROCK. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


29 


them  seemed  poised  on  points,  just  ready  to  fall.  Others  rose,  mas- 
sive and  solid,  from  terraces  which  stretched  away  beyond  our  sight. 
.  .  .  Then  the  canon  walls  close  in  again,  and  looking  down,  we  see 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P   Railway. 


HANGING    ROCK. 


only  a  silver  thread  of  river  ;  looking  up,  we  see  only  a  blue  belt  of 
sky.  Suddenly  we  turn  a  sharp  corner  and  come  out  on  a  broad 
plain.  The  canon  walls  have  opened  like  arms,  and  they  hold  a  town 
named  after  their  own  voices,  Echo  City.  The  arms  are  mighty,  for 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


they  are  snow-capped  mountains.     The  plain  is  green  and  the  river 
is  still." 

The   preceding   cut   represents   a    remarkable  hanging    rock,   of 

which  there  are  several 
in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region.  This  is 
the  most  famous  of 
them  all,  and  it  is  loca- 
ted in  the  wildest  part 
of  Echo  Canon.  The 
canon  is  so  crooked  for 
nearly  thirty  miles  be- 
fore reaching  this  rock, 
that  the  railway  cros- 
ses the  creek  thirty-one 
times  in  twenty-six 
miles. 

Eight  miles  from 
Echo  City  the  rocks 
just  described  are  lost 
sight  of,  and  others  of 
different  form,  larger 
and  grander,  are  sub- 
stituted. The  canon 
also  becomes  wilder  and 
more  inaccessible,  re- 
quiring tunnels  to  be 
cut  in  order  to  sur- 
mount serious  difficul- 
ties. Here  a  tunnel, 
five  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  through  a  solid 
rock,  is  cut,  and  a  little 
further  on,  another  of 
less  importance.  Near 
the  entrance  of  the  first 
tunnel  formerly  stood 
Finger  Rock.  Time 
and  the  elements  have  broken  it  away,  but  its  remarkable  appear- 
ance is  still  remembered  distinctly  by  those  who  were  so  fortunate 
as  to  behold  it  in  its  original  symmetry. 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P.  Railway. 

DEVIL'S  SLIDE. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  31 

Devil's  Slide  is  a  very  singular  figure,  and  is  an  object  of  great  in- 
terest to  tourists.  It  is  serrated  rocks.  This  slide  is  composed  of 
two  ridges  of  granite  rock,  reaching  from  the  river  nearly  to  the  summit 
of  a  sloping,  grass-clad  mountain.  They  are  from  fifty  to  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  narrow  slabs,  standing  on  edge,  as  though  forced 
out  of  the  mountain  side.  The  two  ridges  run  parallel  with  each 
other,  about  ten  feet  apart,  the  space  between  them  covered  with 
grass,  wild  flowers,  and  climbing  vines. 

If  nature  had  intended  to  provide  a  curiosity  for  travellers  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  human  enterprise  would  tunnel  and  remove 
mountains,  she  could  not  have  been  more  successful.  The  action  of 
the  elements  has  produced  many  remarkable  natural  phenomena, 
here  and  elsewhere,  but  few  more  interesting  than  this.  We  do  not 
wonder  that  wind  and  water  have  been  ages  in  excavating  this 
mighty  gorge,  with  so  much  carving  on  its  adamantine  walls.  Water 
can  easily  percolate  through  mountain  ranges,  and  finally  plunge  in 
torrents  down  weird  ravines,  plowing  deeper  and  deeper,  overturning, 
defacing,  and  destroying  in  its  mad,  onward  rush  :  but  TO  SCULPTURE 
as  it  goes  —  that  is  not  so  easy.  Nevertheless,  here  and  elsewhere, 
the  elements  have  wrought  better  than  they  knew ;  and  now  tourists 
find  pleasure  in  these  art  galleries  of  nature. 

Pulpit  Rock  is  not  a  single  shaft  of  granite,  but  is  composed 
of  several  stones  laid  one  upon  another.  It  would  be  of  little  inter- 
est, of  course,  were  it  a  huge  pile  erected  by  human  strength  and 
skill ;  for  then  it  would  not  be  wonderful  at  all.  It  is  because  human 
plan  and  effort  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  formation  that  it  awakens 
interest.  It  is  such  objects  as  this  which  make  a  trip  over  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  a  great  novelty. 

The  " American  Fork  Canon"  of  Utah  is  grand,  though  devoid 
of  the  gorgeous  coloring  of  Echo  and  Weber  canons.  The  walls  at 
the  entrance  are  not  more  than  a  hundred  feet  apart,  and  the  peaks  six 
hundred  feet  high.  But  the  walls  rise  rapidly  until  they  are  twenty-five 
hundred  feet  above  the  road-bed.  The  traveller  experiences  a  peculiar 
sensation  at  times  from  the  appearance  of  the  walls  coming  together 
just  in  advance  of  him,  and  shutting  him  in,  so  narrow  is  the  gorge. 
Let  the  reader  imagine  himself  in  this  crevice  of  the  Rockies,  if  he 
can,  with  the  walls  towering  above  him  eight  times  as  high  as  the 
tallest  of  the  big  trees  in  the  Yosemite  Valley  ;  and  he  can  form 
some  idea  of  the  impressiveness  of  the  scene.  Eight  of  the  tallest 
trees  from  the  Mariposa  grove,  one  set  upon  another,  only  cover  the 
distance  from  the  bed  of  the  canon  to  the  tallest  peaks  above  on 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST 


either  side  !  Mr.  Crofutt  puts  the  matter  finely  when  he  says : 
"  Imagine,  then,  this  canon  with  its  grottos,  amphitheatres,  and  its 
towering  crags,  peaks,  and  needle-pointed  rocks,  towering  far  above 

the  road,  overhanging 
it  in  places,  with 
patches  of  eternal 
snow  in  the  gloomy 
gorges  near  the  sum- 
mit, and  clothed  at 
all  times  in  a  mantle 
of  green,  the  pine, 
spruce,  and  cedar 
trees  growing  in  all 
the  nooks  and  gulches 
and  away  up  on  the 
summit  ;  then  count- 
less mosses  and  ferns 
clinging  to  each  crev- 
ice and  seam  where  a 
foothold  can  be  se- 
cured, together  with 
the  millions  of  flow- 
ers of  every  hue; 
where  the  sun's  rays 
are  sifted  through 
countless  objects  on 
their  way  to  the  sil- 
very, sparkling 
stream  below,  with 
its  miniature  cascades 
and  eddies.  We  say 
imagine  all  these 
things,  and  then  you 
will  only  have  a  faint 
outline  of  the  wild 
and  romantic,  pictur- 
esque and  glorious 
American  Fork  Canon."  "Lion  Rock,"  "Telescope  Peak,"  "Sled- 
runner  Curve,"  "Rainbow  Cliff,"  and  "Hanging  Rock"  are  among 
the  objects  of  peculiar  interest  in  this  caflon. 

It  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination,  in  passing  through  a 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P.  Railway. 


PULPIT   ROCK. 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE. 


33 


canon  like  this,  to  behold  castles,  pyramids,  obelisks,  towers,  colon- 
nades, and  every  sort  of  architecture  in  the  marvellous  rock-forma- 
tions that  appear  on  every  side.  Bayard  Taylor  said  of  the  view  in 
another  locality  of  the  "  Rockies  "  :  "  Here  was  a  feudal  castle  of  the 
Middle  Ages  ;  there  a  shattered,  irregular  obelisk,  or  broken  pyra- 
mid ;  and  finally,  rising  above  from  the  level  of  a  meadow,  we  beheld 
three  perpendicular  towers,  eighty  feet  high,  resting  on  a  common 
base.  Their  crests  were  of  bright  orange  hue,  fading  downward  into 
white.  Beyond  them  extended  the  shattered  battlements  of  a  city 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P.  Railway. 


HIPPOPOTAMUS    ROCK    (Near  Sherman). 


sparkling  in  the  sunshine."     The  principal  part  of  this  description 
will  apply  to  hundreds  of  localities  within  canons  and  without. 

The  name  of  the  above  rock  is  derived  from  its  form,  which  is  sin- 
gular indeed.  The  more  we  study  it,  the  more  remarkable  it  appears. 
The  foundation  even  is  as  remarkable  as  the  rock  itself,  when  we 
stop  to  reflect  that  it  was  laid  by  nature,  and  not  by  man.  It  is  a 
huge  affair ;  and  here  it  has  stood  for  ages,  probably,  in  just  this 


34 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


position.     If  it  were  thrown  into  this  position  by  some  convulsion  of 
nature,  so  much  the  more  mysterious  must  be  its  history ;  for  then 

an  earthquake  must  have 
order  in  its  madness.  Ev- 
idently the  real  life  of  this 
rock  would  contain  a  won- 
derful chapter  of  nature's 
effort  to  heave  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region  into  its 
present  status. 

We  shall  not  even  call 
attention  to  many  canons, 
but  close  our  special  atten- 
tion to  them  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  greatest  canon 
of  all,  —  "THE  GRAND 
CANON  OF  THE  COLORA- 
DO," with  several  of  its 
side  canons.  This  is  the 
most  marvellous  canon  of 
the  world,  its  name  being 
derived  from  the  river 
which  runs  through  it.  It 
is  situated  in  Arizona,  and 
is  nearly  three  hundred 
miles  in  length. 

The  United  States  Gov- 
ernment explored  Colorado 
River  and  canons,  from 
1869  to  1872,  doing  the 
work  thoroughly,  under  the 
lead  of  Captain  (now  Ma- 
jor) J.  W.  Powell.  Powell 
and  his  men  were  the  first 
human  beings  who  ever 
passed  through  the  whole 
length  of  the  caftons  —  a 
thousand  miles.  It  was 
a  remarkable  exploit,  to  accomplish  which  they  actually  took  their 
lives  into  their  hands,  and  made  a  stake  of  everything.  Once  on 
their  way,  return  was  impossible  :  they  must  proceed  or  perish. 


CLIM3ING  THE  GRAND   CANON  OF  THE   COLORADO. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  35 

They  commenced  their  hazardous  undertaking  by  entering  the 
first  canon,  on  the  northery  boundary  of  the  State  of  Colorado.  The 
river  was  rapid  and  turbulent,  taxing  the  skill  and  judgment  of  the 
party  to  keep  their  light  boats  right  side  up.  Week  after  week  and 
month  after  month  they  pursued  their  perilous  way  down  the  river, 
through  tortuous  gorges,  hemmed  in  by  walls  on  either  side,  often 
four,  five,  and  six  thousand  feet  high,  not  knowing  but  that  each  day 
would  be  their  last. 

In  1854  two  men,  White  and  Strobe,  were  seeking  gold  in  South- 
eastern Utah,  where  they  were  attacked  by  Indians.  They  took 
refuge  in  one  of  the  uppermost  canons  of  the  river,  where,  upon 
reflection,  they  saw  their  only  way  of  escape  was  down  the  river. 
To  return  would  be  sure  death,  as  the  Indians  would  show  them  no 
mercy.  Constructing  a  rude  raft  with  such  wood  as  they  could  find, 
they  started  down  the  river.  The  fourth  day  their  raft  upset  as  they 
were  descending  rapids,  and  Strobe  was  drowned.  White  clung  to 
the  raft,  and  succeeded  in  righting  it ;  and  he  continued  his  journey 
alone,  rapids  and  whirlpools  frequently  imperilling  his  life.  In  ten 
days  he  reached  a  small  Mexican  settlement  of  a  dozen  poor  adobe 
huts,  and  he  was  safe.  He  escaped  from  the  Indians  of  Utah,  how- 
ever, only  to  be  killed  by  other  Indians  the  following  year. 

In  1855  a  party  of  several  men,  led  by  one  Ashley,  made  a  similar 
attempt,  and  they  were  soon  wrecked,  and  all  but  Ashley  and  one 
companion  drowned.  Major  Powell  discovered  the  remains  of  that 
wreck,  and  honored  their  brave  leader  by  naming  the  spot  Ashley 
Falls.  Such  facts  show  that  Powell  and  his  exploring  party  under- 
took a  very  perilous  work  for  their  country. 

By  actual  measurement,  the  walls  at  the  highest  point  of  the 
canon  are  six  THOUSAND  TWO  HUNDRED  FEET  !  It  is  difficult  for  the 
reader  to  appreciate  the  depth  of  this  canon.  Perhaps  the  writer 
can  assist  him  to  take  it  in.  Imagine  yourself  at  the  bottom  of  the 
chasm,  looking  upwards.  It  is  six  thousand  two  hundred  feet  to 
the  edge  of  the  precipice  above.  A  very  tall  church-spire,  from  the 
foundation,  is  two  hundred  feet,  though  very  few  pierce  the  air  to 
that  distance.  Thirty-one  church-spires  of  two  hundred  feet  each, 
one  upon  another,  will  just  cover  the  distance  from  bottom  to  top ! 
Can  your  mind  grasp  and  comprehend  the  grandeur  of  such  a  scene  ? 
Mountain-walls  rising  towards  the  sky  more  than  six  thousand  feet, 
with  crags  and  monumental  piles,  jagged  rocks,  and  barren  peaks, 
wildness,  weirdness,  and  strangeness,  uniting  to  make  the  abyss  sub- 
lime and  mysterious  beyond  description  !  "  Who  is  like  unto  thee, 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


O  Lord,  among  the  gods  ?  who  is  like  thee,  glorious  in  holiness,  fear- 
ful in  praises,  doing  wonders  ? " 

What  explorers  call  the  "  Grand  Canon  District  "  embraces  so 
many  marvels  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  selection.  However,  we 
shall  call  attention  to  several  which  have  been  carefully  photo- 
graphed. 

Buttes  in  the  western  portion  of  the  Grand  Canon  District  are 
higher  than  those  near  Kanab ;  yet,  in  the  latter  region,  they  are 
from  three  hundred  to  six  hundred  feet  high.  "  But,"  remarks  Dut- 
ton,  "  what  they  lack  in  magnitude  they  make  up  in  refinement  and 


PERMIAN   BUTTE.    (.Near  Kanab.) 

beauty  of  detail,  and  in  sumptuous  color.  It  is  in  the  Permian  that 
we  find  the  most  remarkable  buttes.  They  are  never  large,  but  their 
resemblance  to  human  architecture,  or  works  of  design,  are  often 
amazing.  Very  few  Permian  buttes  are  found  in  the  Grand  Cafion 
District ;  but  further  eastward,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
junction  of  the  Grand  and  Green  rivers,  they  are  innumerable,  and 
of  such  definiteness  that  the  geologist  feels  as  if  he  were  taxing  the 
credulity  of  his  hearers  when  he  asks  them  to  believe  that  they  are 
the  works  of  nature  alone,  and  not  of  some  race  of  Titans." 

The  Vermilion  cliffs  derive  their  name  from  their  color,  which  is 
flaming  red.     They  extend  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles, 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  37 

and  their  height  ranges  from  one  thousand  to  more  than  two  thousand 
feet.  Captain  Button  remarks  :  "  Their  great  altitude,  the  remarka- 
ble length  of  their  line  of  frontage,  the  persistence  with  which  their 
proportions  are  sustained  throughout  the  entire  interval,  their  ornate 
sculpture  and  rich  coloring,  might  justify  very  exalted  language  of 
description.  But  to  the  southward,  just  where  the  desert  surface 
dips  downward  beneath  the  horizon,  are  those  supreme  walls  of  the 
Grand  Canon,  which  we  must  hereafter  behold,  and  vainly  strive  to 
describe  ;  and  however  worthy  of  admiration  the  Vermilion  Cliffs 
maybe,  we  must  be  frugal  of  adjectives,  lest,  in  the  chapters  to  be 
written,  we  find  their  force  and  meaning  exhausted.  They  will  be 
weak  and  vapid  enough  at  best.  Yet  there  are  portions  of  the  Ver- 
milion Cliffs  which,  in  some  respects,  lay  hold  of  the  sensibilities 
with  a  force  not  much  less  overwhelming  than  the  majesty  of  the 
Grand  Canon  ;  not  in  the  same  way,  not  by  virtue  of  the  same  ele- 
ments of  power  and  impressiveness,  but  in  a  way  of  their  own,  and 
by  attributes  of  their  own. 

"The  profile  of  Vermilion  Cliffs  consists  of  a  series  of  vertical 
ledges  rising  tier  above  tier,  story  above  story,  with  intervening 
slopes  covered  with  talus,  through  which  the  beds  project  their 
fretted  edges.  .  .  .  Near  Short  Creek  it  breaks  into  lofty  truncated 
towers  of  great  beauty  and  grandeur,  with  strongly  emphasized  ver- 
tical lines  and  decorations,  suggestive  of  cathedral  architecture  on  a 
colossal  scale.  Still  loftier  and  more  ornate  become  the  structures 
as  we  approach  the  Virgen  River.  At  length  they  reach  the  sub- 
lime. The  altitudes  increase  until  they  approach  two  thousand  feet 
above  the  plain.  The  wall  is  recessed  with  large  amphitheatres,  but- 
tressed with  huge  spurs,  and  decorated  with  towers  and  pinnacles. 

"  As  the  sun  is  about  to  set,  the  cliffs  glow  with  an  orange-ver- 
milion that  seems  to  be  an  intrinsic  lustre  emanating  from  the  rocks 
themselves.  But  the  great  gala  days  of  the  cliffs  are  those  when  sun- 
shine and  storm  are  waging  an  even  battle ;  when  the  massive  banks  of 
clouds  send  their  white  diffuse  light  into  the  dark  places,  and  tone 
down  the  intense  glare  of  the  direct  rays  ;  when  they  roll  over  the 
summits  in  stately  procession,  wrapping  them  in  vigor,  and  revealing 
cloud-girt  masses  here  and  there  through  wide  rifts.  Then  the 
truth  appears,  and  all  deceptions  are  exposed.  Their  real  gran- 
deur, their  true  forms,  and  a  just  sense  of  their  relations  are  at 
last  fairly  presented,  so  that  the  mind  can  grasp  them.  And  they 
are  very  grand  —  even  sublime.  There  is  no  need,  as  we  look  upon 
them,  of  fancy  to  heighten  the  picture,  nor  of  metaphor  to  present 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  39 

it.  The  simple  truth  is  quite  enough.  I  never  before  had  a  realiz- 
ing sense  of  a  cliff  one  thousand  eight  hundred  to  two  thousand 
feet  high.  I  think  I  have  a  definite  and  abiding  one  at  present." 

The  Pink  Cliffs  present  a  marvellous  scene  even  for  the  Grand 
Canon  District  of  the  Colorado.  The  verge  of  the  precipice  at 
the  foot  of  the  cliff  is  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  valley. 
From  this  eminence  the  cliffs  rise  in  beauty  and  grandeur,  to 
fill  every  observer  with  surprise  and  wonder.  Captain  Dutton 
says  :  "  The  cliff  is  of  marvellous  sculpture  and  color.  The  rains 
have  carved  out  of  it  rows  of  square  obelisks  and  pilasters  of  uni- 
form pattern  and  dimensions,  which  decorate  the  front  for  many 
miles,  giving  the  effect  of  a  gigantic  colonnade  from  which  the  entab- 
lature has  been  removed  or  has  fallen  in  ruins.  The  Plateau  Country 
abounds  in  these  close  resemblances  of  natural  carving  to  human 
architecture,  and  nowhere  are  these  more  conspicuous  or  more  per- 
fect than  in  the  scarps  which  terminate  the  summits  of  the  Marka- 
gunt  and  Parmsagunt  Plateaus.  Their  color  varies  with  the  light  and 
atmosphere.  It  is  a  pale  red  under  ordinary  lights,  but  as  the  sun 
sinks  towards  the  horizon,  it  deepens  into  a  rich  rose  color,  which  is 
seen  in  no  other  rocks,  and  is  beautiful  beyond  description."  The 
reader  will  understand  whence  the  name  given  to  the  cliffs. 

Dome  and  Towers  is  another  view  in  the  Grand  Canon  District  that 
baffles  description.  The  Mu-kiin-tu-weap,  which  is  one  of  the  princi- 
pal forks  of  the  Virgen,  flows  between  mighty  walls  that  are  covered 
with  the  most  remarkable  natural  carvings.  Mr.  Dutton  says  :  "  The 
further  wall  of  the  canon,  at  the  opening  of  the  gateway,  quickly 
flings  northward  at  a  right  angle  and  becomes  the  eastern  wall  of 
Little  Zion  Valley.  As  it  sweeps  down  the  Parunuweap  (the  other 
principal  fork  of  the  Virgen),  it  breaks  into  great  pediments  covered 
all  over  with  the  richest  carving.  The  effect  is  much  like  that  which 
the  architect  of  the  Milan  Cathedral  appears  to  have  designed,  though 
here  it  is  vividly  suggested  rather  than  fully  realized,  as  an  artist 
painting  in  the  '  broad  style  '  suggests  many  things  without  actually 
drawing  them.  The  sumptuous,  bewildering,  mazy  effect  is  all  there  ; 
but  when  we  attempt  to  analyze  it  in  detail,  it  eludes  us.  The  flank 
of  the  wall  receding  up  the  Mukiintuweap  is  for  a  mile  or  two  simi- 
larly decorated,  but  soon  breaks  into  new  forms  much  more  impressive 
and  wonderful.  A  row  of  towers  half  a  mile  high  is  quarried  out  of 
the  palisade,  and  stands  well  advanced  from  its  face.  There  is  an 
eloquence  in  their  forms  which  stirs  the  imagination  with  a  singular 
power,  and  kindles  in  the  mind  of  the  dullest  observer  a  glowing 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  41 

response.  Just  behind  them,  and  rising  a  thousand  feet  higher,  is 
the  eastern  temple,  crowned  with  a  cylindric  dome  of  white  sand- 
stone ;  but  since  it  is,  in  many  respects,  a  repetition  of  the  nearer 


DOME    AND   TOWERS. 


western  temple,  we  may  turn  our  attention  to  the  latter.  Directly  in 
front  of  us  a  complex  group  of  white  towers,  springing  from  a  cen- 
tral pile,  mounts  upwards  to  the  clouds.  Out  of  their  midst,  and  high 
over  all,  rises  a  dome-like  mass,  which  dominates  the  entire  landscape. 


42  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

It  is  almost  pure  white,  with  brilliant  streaks  of  carmine  descending 
its  vertical  walls.  At  the  summit  it  is  truncated,  and  a  flat  tablet  is 
laid  upon  the  top,  showing  its  edge  of  deep  red.  It  is  impossible  to 
liken  this  object  to  any  familiar  shape,  for  it  resembles  none.  Yet 
its  shape  is  far  from  being  indefinite ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  a  defi- 
niteness  and  individuality  which  extort  an  exclamation  of  surprise 
when  first  beheld.  There  is  no  name  provided  for  such  an  object, 
nor  is  it  worth  while  to  invent  one.  Call  it  a  dome  ;  not  because  it 
has  the  ordinary  shape  of  such  a  structure,  but  because  it  performs 
the  functions  of  a  dome. 

"  The  towers  which  surround  it  are  of  inferior  mass  and  altitude, 
but  each  of  them  is  a  study  of  fine  form  and  architectural  effect. 
They  are  white  above,  and  change  to  a  strong,  rich  red  below.  Dome 
and  towers  are  planted  upon  a  substructure  no  less  admirable.  Its 
plan  is  indefinite,  but  its  profiles  are  perfectly  systematic.  A  curtain 
wall  fourteen  hundred  feet  high  descends  vertically  from  the  eaves  of  the 
temple,  and  is  succeeded  by  a  steep  slope  of  ever-widening  base-courses 
leading  down  to  the  esplanade  below.  The  curtain  wall  is  decorated 
with  a  lavish  display  of  vertical  mouldings,  and  the  ridges,  eaves,  and 
mitred  angles  are  fretted  with  serrated  crisps.  The  ornamentation  is 
suggestive  rather  than  precise,  but  it  is  none  the  less  effective.  It  is 
repetitive,  not  symmetrical.  But  though  exact  symmetry  is  wanting, 
nature  has  here  brought  home  to  us  the  truth  that  symmetry  is  only 
one  of  an  infinite  range  of  devices  by  which  beauty  can  be  materi- 
alized. 

"  '  And  finer  forms  are  in  the  quarry 
Than  ever  Angelo  evoked.' 

"  The  finest  butte  of  the  chasm  is  situated  near  the  upper  end  of 
the  Kaibab  division,  but  it  is  not  visible  from  Point  Sublime.  It  is 
more  than  five  thousand  feet  high,  and  has  a  surprising  resemblance 
to  an  Oriental  pagoda.  We  named  it  Vishnu's  Temple."  1 

Mr.  Button  continues:  "Whatsoever  is  forcible,  characteristic, 
and  picturesque  in  the  rock-forms  of  the  Plateau  Country  is  concen- 
trated and  intensified  to  the  uttermost  in  the  buttes.  Wherever  we 
find  them,  whether  fringing  the  long  escarpments  of  terraces  or 
planted  upon  broad  mesas,  whether  in  canons  or  upon  expansive 
plains,  they  are  always  bold  and  striking  in  outline,  and  ornate  in 
architecture.  Upon  their  flanks  and  entablatures  the  decoration 
peculiar  to  the  formation  out  of  which  they  have  been  carved  is  most 

1  Capt.  C.  E.  Dutton. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


43 


44  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

strongly  portrayed,  and  the  profiles  are  most  sharply  cut.  They  com- 
mand the  attention  with  special  force,  and  quicken  the  imagination 
with  a  singular  power." 

Moving  northward,  with  grandeur  on  each  side,  Captain  Button 
describes  another  butte  still  more  surprising  in  its  appearance,  but, 
for  reasons  not  mentioned,  it  was  not  photographed.  "  The  controll- 
ing object  was  a  great  butte  which  sprang  into  view  immediately 
before  us,  and  which  the  salient  of  the  wall  had  hitherto  masked.  Upon 
a  pedestal  two  miles  long  and  a  thousand  feet  high,  richly  decorated 
with  horizontal  mouldings,  rose  four  towers  highly  suggestive  of  cathe- 
dral architecture.  Their  altitude  above  the  plain  was  estimated  at 
eighteen  hundred  feet.  They  were  separated  by  vertical  clefts  made 
by  the  enlargements  of  the  joints,  and  many  smaller  clefts  extending 
from  the  summits  to  the  pedestal  carved  the  turrets  into  tapering  but- 
tresses, which  gave  a  graceful,  aspiring  effect,  with  a  remarkable  defi- 
niteness  to  the  forms.  We  named  it  Smithsonian  Butte." 

Marble  Canon  belongs  to  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado.  The 
illustration  conveys  to  the  reader  as  correct  an  idea  of  its  grandeur 
as  can  possibly  be  obtained  without  beholding  the  original.  Button 
says  :  "  The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  crosses  transversely  the 
four  western  plateaus  of  the  district,  while  the  Marble  Canon  trav- 
erses the  eastern  or  fifth  plateau.  The  two  canons  are  only  nomi- 
nally separated,  for  there  is  no  gap  between  them.  The  Marble 
Canon  begins  at  the  base  of  the  eastern  terraces.  The  Colorado 
River,  after  traversing  the  central  mesas  of  the  Plateau  Country  in  a 
series  of  profound  chasms,  at  length  emerges  from  the  echo  of  Trias- 
sic  and  Permian  age.  Here  for  an  instant  the  river  is  in  compara- 
tively an  open  country.  But  within  a  mile  or  two  it  begins  to  sink 
another  chasm  in  the  carboniferous  rocks,  and  in  the  course  of  sixty- 
five  miles  the  depth  steadily  increases  until  it  becomes  about  thirty- 
five  hundred  to  four  thousand  feet.  This  is  the  Marble  Cafton.  It 
is  a  gorge  of  very  simple  form,  and  its  width  is  about  twice  as  great 
as  its  depth.  Its  course  is  at  first  southwest,  but  gradually  deflects 
to  the  southward.  Its  lower  end  is  arbitrarily  fixed  at  the  junction 
of  the  Little  Colorado  or  Colorado  Chiquito,  a  stream  coming  in  from 
the  southeast  and  entering  by  a  lateral  chasm  as  deep  as  the  main 
gorge  itself.  Below  the  junction  the  river  turns  westward,  the  walls 
grow  rapidly  higher,  the  great  chasm  widens  out  to  six  or  eight  times 
its  width  in  the  Marble  Cafton,  and  the  valley  of  the  river  is  filled 
with  buttes  as  large  as  mountains  and  wonderfully  sculptured.  Here 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


45 


MARBLE    CANON. 


40  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  river  enters  the  Kaibab,  and  its  walls  soon  attain  the  altitude  of 
six  thousand  feet." 

Kanab  Canon  is  a  division  of  the  Grand  Canon,  possessing  many  at- 
tractions in  common  with  Marble  Canon.  The  cut  shows  that  its  mas- 
sive and  towering  walls  must  excite  the  wonder  of  men.  Everything 
about  it  is  grand  on  a  large  scale.  As  an  adjunct  to  the  Grand 
Canon,  it  is  in  complete  harmony  with  its  transcendent  glories.  The 
contemplation  is  inspiring  and  elevating.  A  man  is  better  for  taking 
in  the  sublime  view.  It  awakens  thoughts  of  the  Great  Architect, 
whose  handiwork  is  so  wonderful. 


LAND  OF  THE  STANDING  ROCKS. 

Captain  Button  writes  :  "  A  spectacle  of  this  kind  is  most  impres- 
sive to  the  geologist.  It  brings  into  one  view  the  co-ordinated 
results  of  observations  made  laboriously  by  months  of  travel  and 
inspection  in  a  very  broad  and  rugged  field.  The  great  distances 
through  which  the  eye  can  reach,  the  aspect  of  cliffs  towering  above 
and  beyond  cliffs,  the  great  cumulative  altitude  thus  attained,  the 
immensity  of  the  masses  revealed,  the  boldness  of  form,  the  distinct- 
ness of  the  lines  of  stratification,  and  especially  the  brilliant  coloring, 
subdued  indeed,  but  also  refined  by  the  haze,  give  to  the  scene  a 
grandeur  which  has  few  parallels." 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


47 


KANAB  CANON. 


48 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Could  anything  be  grander  and  more  imposing  than  this  "  Land 
of  Standing  Rocks  "  ?  It  is  difficult  to  suppress  the  thought  that 
human  industry  and  art  have  here  reared  vast  granite  temples  and 
towers,  such  as  we  read  of  in  European  cities.  There  has  been  no 
touch  of  the  artist  to  exaggerate  the  scene,  for  it  is  taken  from  a 
faithful  photographic  view,  and  appears  here  just  as  it  is  in  the 
wonderful  canon  of  which  it  is  a  part.  (See  p.  46.) 

Albiquiu  Peak  is  one  of  the  most  unique  natural  rock-formations  in 
New  Mexico,  and  it  becomes  more  interesting  in  consequence  of  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  pueblo  which  Macomb  discovered  on  his  way  to  the 


ALBIQUIU    PEAK. 

peak.  He  says :  "  On  the  iQth  of  July  we  left  Albiquiu  for  the 
ascent  of  the  Albiquiu  Peak.  The  train  moving  on  to  the  Aroya 
Seco  passed  up  the  Chama  to  a  point  just  beyond  Albiquiu,  and  then 
turned  to  the  left  and  ascended,  by  a  long  and  difficult  road,  the  high 
mesa  which  overlooks  the  valley  on  the  south  side.  This  mesa  is 
here  full  a  thousand  feet  above  the  Chama,  and  is  connected  with 
that  of  which  the  broken  edge  forms  a  bold  headland  below  the 
town,  known  as  Albiquiu  Cliff.  The  mesa  over  which  we  passed 
extended,  with  a  nearly  level  surface,  several  miles  towards  the  peak. 
Arriving  at  the  western  border  of  this  mesa,  we  looked  directly  down 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  49 

into  the  narrow  but  fertile  valley  in  which  is  nestled  the  little  Mexi- 
can village  of  Los  Canones.  Descending  by  a  steep  and  tortuous 
path,  we  left  our  mules  at  the  bottom  and  climbed  a  detached  mesilla 
which  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the  valley,  and 
on  which  is  situated  an  ancient  and  ruined  pueblo,  once  a  stone-built 
town  of  considerable  size.  Even  its  name  is  now  lost,  and  of  the 
inhabitants  whose  busy  hands  constructed  its  walls,  and  whose  feet 
in  successive  generations  wore  so  deeply  the  threshold  of  its  entrance, 
no  tradition  now  remains.  The  mesa  on  which  it  stands  is  some  five 
thousand  feet  in  height,  and  the  top  is  only  to  be  reached  by  a  nar- 
row and  difficult  path.  The  houses  are  now  in  ruins,  but  were  once 
numerous,  and  all  built  of  dressed  stone.  Within  the  town  we 
noticed  a  dozen  or  more  estuffas  excavated  from  the  solid  rock. 
They  are  circular  in  form,  eighteen  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter  by 
ten  or  twelve  in  depth.  They  all  exhibited  evidence  of  once  having 
been  covered  with  wooden  superstructures.  In  most  of  them,  four 
excavations  on  opposite  sides  would  seem  to  have  been  used  as  the 
sockets  for  the  insertion  of  wooden  posts,  and  in  one  is  a  niche  cut 
in  the  side,  with  a  chimney  leading  from  it ;  probably  the  place  where 
the  sacred  fire  was  kept  perpetually  burning.  The  style  of  archi- 
tecture in  which  the  town  was  built,  as  well  as  the  estuffas,  show 
that  its  inhabitants  belonged  to  the  Pueblo  Indians,  a  race  now 
nearly  extinct,  but  once  occupying  every  habitable  portion  of  New 
Mexico."  J 

Mr.  Macomb  continues  :  "  Spending  the  night  at  Los  Canones, 
we  started  this  morning  very  early  for  the  ascent  of  the  peak.  This 
we  mostly  accomplished  on  mule-back,  passing  over  a  succession  of 
hills  composed  of  the  variegated  marls,  —  containing  beds  of  gyp- 
sum of  great  thickness,  —  covered  with  a  forest  of  pifion  and  cedar. 
When  we  had  arrived  within  five  hundred  feet  of  the  summit,  we 
left  our  mules,  and  commenced  the  ascent  on  foot.  This  part  of  the 
mountain  is  very  steep,  and  the  upper  two  hundred  feet  is  a  perpen- 
dicular wall  of  trap-rock.  The  summit  we  found  to  form  a  cuchillo, 
a  narrow,  knife-like  ridge,  bounded  on  every  side  by  vertical  preci- 
pices. Its  height  above  the  sea  is  about  nine  thousand  feet.  The 
extreme  summit  is  covered  with  pifion,  and  the  slope  with  yellow 
pine,  Douglas  spruce,  the  western  balsam  fir,  and  the  quaking-cap. 
The  view  from  the  summit  was  particularly  fine,  sweeping  a  circle  of 
fifty  miles'  radius,  except  towards  the  buttes,  which  are  very  near, 
and  fill  the  northeastern  horizon." 

1  These  ancient  races  are  treated  at  length  in  Part  II.  of  this  volume. 


50  MARVELS  OF   'THE  NEW  WEST. 

Macomb  says  :  "  Everywhere  over  the  second  plateau  are  scat- 
tered buttes  and  pinnacles,  wrought,  from  the  massive  calcareous 
sandstone  and  the  overlying  Saurian  beds,  by  the  erosion  which  has 
swept  from  the  surface  all  traces  but  these  of  the  immense  mass  of 
sedimentary  rocks  which  once  covered  it.  Of  these,  one  of  the 
most  striking,  seen  from  our  route,  is  the  Casa  Colorado.  It  is  a 
detached  butte,  some  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  high,  composed  of 
sandstone  covered  with  the  harder  layers  of  the  Saurian  beds.  An- 
other symmetrical  and  beautiful  dome,  composed  of  the  same  mate- 
rials, is  lemon-yellow,  with  a  base  of  red." 


CASA  COLORADO   BUTTE. 

Macomb  examined  this  butte  (in  New  Mexico)  in  1859,  when  on 
his  expedition  from  Santa  Fe"  to  the  junction  of  Grand  and  Green 
rivers  for  the  United  States  Government.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  height  of  the  butte  is  just  that  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument. 

Captain  Macomb  writes  :  "  From  the  pinnacle  on  which  we  stood 
the  eyes  swept  over  an  area  some  fifty  miles  in  diameter,  everywhere 
marked  by  features  of  more  than  ordinary  interest ;  lofty  lines  of 
massive  mesas  rising  in  successive  steps  to  and  from  the  frame  of 
the  picture,  the  interval  between  them  more  than  two  thousand  feet 
below  their  summits.  A  great  basin  or  sunken  plain  lay  stretched 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  51 

out  before  me  as  on  a  map.  Not  a  particle  of  vegetation  was  any- 
where discernible ;  nothing  but  bare  and  barren  rocks  of  rich  and 
varied  colors,  shimmering  in  the  sunlight.  Scattered  over  the  plain 
were  thousands  of  the  fantastically  formed  buttes  to  which  I  have 
so  often  referred  in  my  notes ;  pyramids,  domes,  towers,  columns, 
spires,  of  every  conceivable  form  and  size.  Among  these,  by  far  the 
most  remarkable  was  THE  FOREST  OF  GOTHIC  SPIRES,  first  and  imper- 
fectly seen  as  we  issued  from  the  mouth  of  the  Canon  Colorado. 
Nothing  I  can  say  will  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  singular  and  sur- 
prising appearance  which  they  presented  from  this  new  and  advan- 


FOREST  OF  GOTHIC  SPIRES. 


tageous  point  of  view.  Singly,  or  in  groups,  they  extend  like  a  belt 
of  timber  for  several  miles.  '  Nothing  in  nature  or  art  offers  a  par- 
allel to  these  singular  objects  ;  but  some  idea  of  their  appearance 
may  be  gained  by  imagining  the  island  of  New  York  thickly  set 
with  spires  like  that  of  Trinity  Church,  but  many  of  them  full  twice 
its  height." 

"A  few  miles  north  of  Camp  39,"  says  Captain  Macomb,  "is  the 
southwestern  corner  of  the  Mesa  Verde,  which  stretches  from  this 
point  northward  to  our  former  trail,  and  eastward,  forms  the  north 
bank  of  the  San  Joan  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  It  has  an  altitude 


52  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

of  two  thousand  feet  above  camp,  and  presents,  with  its  many 
detached  buttes  and  pinnacles,  its  long  and  lofty  walls,  a  most  grand 
and  imposing  object.  On  the  south  side  of  the  river,  now  quite  near 
to  us,  stand  out  in  strong  relief  the  picturesque  basaltic  pinnacles  of 
'  The  Needles,'  while  further  south  the  view  is  bounded  by  the  high 
ridges  of  the  Carisso  and  Tunecha  mountains. 

"From  Camp  40  we  obtained  a  nearer  and  still  better  view  of 
'The  Needles.'  This  is  a  mass  of  erupted  rock,  rising  with  per- 
pendicular sides  from  the  middle  of  the  valley.  From  all  points 
where  seen  by  us,  it  has  the  appearance  of  an  immense  cathedral,  of 


THE   NEEDLES. 


rich,  sombre  brown  color,  terminating  in  two  spires.  Its  altitude  is 
about  one  thousand  feet  above  its  base ;  above  the  river,  2,262  feet. 
It  is  everywhere  surrounded  by  stratified  rocks,  and  its  isolated  posi- 
tion and  peculiar  form  render  its  origin  a  matter  of  some  little  doubt. 
My  conviction,  however,  is  very  decided  that  its  remarkable  relief  is 
due  to  the  washing  away  of  the  sediments  which  once  surrounded  it, 
and  which  formed  the  mold  in  which  it  was  cast.  In  no  other  way 
can  I  imagine  its  vertical  faces  of  one  thousand  feet  to  have  been 
formed." 

"To-day  our  course  has  been  southeasterly,"  continues  Captain 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


53 


Macomb,  "  approaching  the  southern  end  of  the  Nacimiento,  through 
a  region  much  like  that  of  yesterday,  except  that  as  we  have  now 
penetrated  deeply  into  the  Middle  Crustaceous  shales,  the  surface  is 
less  broken,  the  hills  being  rounded,  with  long,  gentle  slopes ;  the 
timber  has  become  more  sparse,  the  country  less  picturesque  and 
inviting.  We  have  here  a  fine  view  of  all  the  interval  between  the 
Nacimiento  and  San  Mateo.  In  the  west  and  northwest,  high  mesas 
fill  the  horizon,  forming  the  line  of  divide  to  which  I  have  before 
referred.  Around  the  base  of  Mount  Taylor,  extending  many  miles 
in  every  direction,  is  a  plateau  of  trap,  which  has  apparently  flowed 


CABAZON. 


from  this  great  extinct  volcano,  covering  all  the  sedimentary  rocks  in 
its  vicinity.  In  the  open  valley  of  the  Puerco  stand  many  pictur- 
esque trap  buttes  having  a  general  resemblance  to  the  needles  of  the 
San  Juan.  Of  these  the  most  conspicuous,  called  by  the  Mexicans 
CABAZON,  resembles  in  its  outline  a  Spanish  sombrero,  but  is  of 
gigantic  dimensions,  being  at  least  fifteen  hundred  feet  in  height." 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind,  as  he  examines  the  illustration,  the 
great  height  of  this  butte.     At  least  FIFTEEN  HUNDRED  FEET  !     A 
monument  of  rock  fifteen  hundred  feet  high,  and  no  art  about  it  - 
all  nature ! 


54  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Most  resplendent  of  all  are  the  Painted  Columns  in  this  grand 
canon,  which  Button,  in  his  official  report  to  the  U.  S.  Government, 
describes  as  "belts  of  brilliant  red,  yellow, 'and  white,  which  are  in- 


PAINTED   COLUMNS. 


tensified,  rather  than  alleviated,  by  alternate  belts  of  gray.  They 
culminate  in  intensity  in  the  Permian  and  Lower  Trias,  where  dark 
brownish  reds  alternate  with  bands  of  chocolate,  purple,  and  lavender, 
so  deep,  rich,  and  resplendent  that  a  painter  would  need  to  be  a  bold 
man  to  venture  to  portray  them  as  they  are." 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


55 


Mr.  Cozzens,  in  his  "  Three  Years  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico," 
describes  the  scenes  in  the  district  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  Colorado, 
which  we  transfer  to  our  pages. 


56  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

These  remarkable  formations  stand  out  bold  and  high,  and  are 
situated  on  the  "  Santa  Rita  del  Cobre,"  Arizona.  The  towers  on 
the  right  are  singularly  artistic,  and  yet  they  are  not  so  marvellous 
as  the  almost  perfect  barracks  on  the  left.  If  men  had  no  hand  in 
these  creations,  and  invisible  spirits  were  not  the  workmen,  then  our 
material  world  must  be  under  the  control  of  as  exact  laws  as  the 
spiritual. 

Mr.  Cozzens,  who  first  brought  these  sandstone  formations  to  the 
attention  of  the  public,  says  :  — 

"We  spent  several  days  in  this  vicinity,  during  which  time  we 
visited  some  remarkable  sandstone  formations  near  by.  We  found 
about  forty  columns,  worn  by  the  winds  and  rains  into  most  singular 
shapes.  One  of  them  measured  nearly  sixty  feet  in  height,  and 
more  closely  resembled  an  inverted  bottle  than  anything  we  could 
compare  it  to.  At  its  greatest  circumference  it  measured  eighteen 
feet,  while  at  its  base  it  was  scarcely  three  feet.  Some  looked  like 
churches,  towers,  castles,  or  barracks,  and  others  very  like  human 
beings  of  colossal  proportions.  So  striking  were  these  resemblances, 
that  it  was  hard  to  believe  the  hand  of  man  had  nothing  to  do  with 
their  formation." 

The  City  not  made  with  Hands,  is  also  a  sandstone  formation 
more  marvellous  than  that  just  described  ;  and  we  are  indebted  to 
Mr.  Cozzens  for  the  view.  He  says  :  — 

"  Half-way  across  this  vast  sandy  plain  two  or  three  blue  specks 
were  visible,  which,  our  guide  informed  us,  were  salt  lakes  ;  also, 
that  it  was  from  the  shores  of  these  lakes  that  the  Spaniards  formerly 
procured  their  salt,  and  even  the  present  inhabitants  used  it  to  a 
large  extent.  He  said  that  in  close  proximity  to  these  lakes  was  a 
very  peculiar  sandstone  formation,  well  worth  seeing ;  and,  as  all 
were  but  a  few  miles  distant  from  our  direct  route,  we  determined  to 
visit  them.  Bringing  our  glasses  to  bear  upon  that  portion  of  the 
plain  pointed  out  by  the  guide,  we  saw  what  seemed  to  us  to  be  a 
large  city,  with  its  spires  and  domes  and  towers  glittering  in  the 
bright  sunlight,  and  rivalling  in  splendor  the  creations  of  the  genii 
conjured  by  Aladdin's  wonderful  lamp." 

The  next  day  he  and  his  party  came  into  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  glittering  city.  He  continues  :  — 

"  The  next  morning  the  guide  called  us  to  behold  the  wonderful 
effect  of  the  rising  sun  upon  the  city  of  enchantment  that  we  had 
seen  from  the  mountain  the  day  before.  As  we  approached  this 
marvellous  architecture  of  the  elements,  we  could  not  repress  excla- 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


57 


mations  of  wonder  and  delight.  Streets  were  plainly  visible  ;  massive 
temples  with  their  spires  and  domes  ;  monuments  of  every  conceiv- 
able shape ;  castles  of  huge  proportions  ;  towers  and  minarets,  all 


58  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

formed  of  pure  white  silica,  which  glittered  in  the  bright  sunlight 
like  walls  of  crystal.  It  was  hard  to  persuade  ourselves  that  art  had 
no  part  in  forming  these  graceful  testimonials  to  the  wonders  of 
nature. 

"  '  Surely/  said  Dr.  Parker,  '  this  must  be  a  city.' 
" '  Yes,'  replied  I,  'a  city,  but  not  made  with  hands.' 
"  Around  the  whole  was  a  massive  wall  ten  feet  in  height,  with 
arched  gateways  and  entrances  as  perfect  as  it  is  possible  for  the 
imagination    of   man  to    conceive.      Entering   the   confines  of   this 
magical  spot,  we  were  soon  undeceived,  for  what  in  the  distance  our 
own   imagination  had   conceived   to  be  enchanted  ground,   was,   in 
reality,  a  mass  of  white  sandstone,  worn  by  the  winds  and  waters 
into  a  wonderful  similitude  of  a  magnificent  city." 

Who  wonders  that  explorers  have  become  enthusiastic  over  the 
wealth  of  scenery  in  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  ?  that  the 
English  vocabulary  has  been  depleted  of  adjectives  to  express  human 
amazement  and  admiration  over  its  revelations?  "There  are,"  says 
Nordhoff,  "  Americans  who  saw  Rome  before  they  saw  Niagara,  who 
saw  Mont  Blanc  before  they  saw  the  Yosemite,  and  who  saw  the 
Alps  and  the  Pyrenees  before  they  saw  the  Rockies  and  the  Sierras. 
Let  them  have  seen  all  of  these,  with  the  Urals,  the  Andes,  and  the 
Himalayas  thrown  in  ;  let  them  have  seen  the  boiling  geysers  of  Ice- 
land and  the  belching  craters  of  ^Etna  and  Chimborazo  ;  let  them 
have  looked  upon  the  wonders  of  the  Yellowstone  and  listened  to 
the  roar  of  Niagara ;  let  them  have  traversed  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  until  they  have  seen  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado,  the 
world's  greatest  wonder  yet  awaits  them.  Imagine  Mount  Washing- 
ton cleft  from  crest  to  base,  and  the  sides  of  the  chasm  pushed  apart 
half  a  mile.  Then  imagine  enough  Mounts  Washington,  split  in 
like  manner  and  put  irregularly  together,  to  form  a  zigzag  gorge 
three  hundred  miles  long,  and  you  have  some  idea  of  what  this  canon 
is.  Perpendicular  walls  on  either  side  of  the  river  five  thousand  to 
seven  thousand  feet  in  height !  Think  of  it !  More  than  a  mile  of 
rocky  cliff  towering  above  you  !  Look  down  from  the  lofty  brink,  and 
you  see  the  river,  like  a  silver  thread,  following  the  contour  of  the 
mighty  abyss.  Look  up  from  beneath  through  its  mile-high  walls, 
count  the  stars  at  midday,  and  realize  that  a  cannon  ball  would 
hardly  reach  the  lofty  summit." 

Captain  Button,  who  speaks  officially  for  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment, says :  "  Those  who  have  long  and  carefully  studied  the 
Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  do  not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  pro- 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  59 

nounce  it  far  the  most  sublime  of  all  earthly  spectacles.  If  its  sub- 
limity consisted  only  in  its  dimensions,  it  could  be  sufficiently  set 
forth  in  a  single  sentence.  It  is  more  than  two  hundred  miles  long, 
from  five  to  twelve  miles  wide,  and  from  five  thousand  to  six  thou- 
sand feet  deep.  There  are  in  the  world  valleys  which  are  longer  and 
a  few  which  are  deeper.  There  are  valleys  flanked  by  summits 
loftier  than  the  palisades  of  the  Kaibab.  Still  the  Grand  Canon  is 
the  sublimest  thing  on  earth.  It  is  not  alone  by  virtue  of  its  magni- 
tude, but  by  virtue  of  its  whole,  its  ensemble." 

YELLOWSTONE    NATIONAL   PARK. 

We  might  very  appropriately  present  the  marvels  of  this  locality 
under  the  division  of  canons,  since  the  mighty  gorge  of  the  Yellow- 
stone is  a  canon  of  surpassing  beauty  and  sublimity.  But  an  act  of 
Congress  has  set  apart  this  domain  for  a  national  park,  thus  giving  it 
special  prominence  in  the  public  mind,  so  that  we  are  disposed  to 
give  it  kindred  importance  in  treating  of  its  marvels. 

The  National  Park  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
Territory  of  Wyoming,  embracing  a  small  section  of  Idaho  and  Mon- 
tana. Its  area  is  sixty-five  miles  long  and  fifty-five  wide,  or  about 
3,575  square  miles,  considerably  larger  than  Rhode  Island  and  Dela- 
ware together.  It  is  surrounded  by  mountain  ranges  which  lift  their 
lofty  peaks  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  feet  above  the  sea. 

Nothing  definite  was  known  of  this  locality  until  1869.  True, 
trappers  and  adventurers  went  thither  before  that  time,  but  their 
reports  were,  so  incredible  that  no  one  believed  them.  Some  of  them 
were  wholly  unworthy  of  credence,  because  they  were  the  exag- 
gerations of  the  imagination,  as  the  following  will  show  :  — 

"In  many  parts  of  the  country  petrifactions  and  fossils  are  very 
numerous,  and,  as  a  consequence,  it  was  claimed  that  in  one  locality 
(I  was  not  able  to  fix  it  definitely)  a  large  tract  of  sage  is  perfectly 
petrified,  with  all  the  leaves  and  branches  in  perfect  condition,  the 
general  appearance  of  the  plain  being  unlike  (like  ?)  that  of  the  rest 
of  the  country  ;  but  all  is  stone ;  while  the  rabbits,  sage  hens,  and 
other  animals  usually  found  in  such  localities  are  still  there,  perfectly 
petrified,  and  as  natural  as  when  they  were  living ;  and,  more  won- 
derful still,  the  petrified  bushes  bear  the  most  wonderful  fruit  ;  dia- 
monds, rubies,  sapphires,  emeralds,  etc.,  etc.,  as  large  as  black  wal- 
nuts, are  found  in  abundance." 

Messrs.  Cook  and    Folsom  explored  the   Yellowstone  country  in 


60  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

1869,  and  their  report  of  its  marvels  awakened  public  attention.  In 
1871  Captains  Barlow  and  Keep,  of  the  United  States  Service,  made 
quite  extensive  explorations ;  and  the  same  year  Dr.  Hayden  made 
an  extended  tour  through  it,  giving  the  results  of  his  researches  in  a 
report  so  filled  with  wonderful  revelations  as  to  greatly  interest  the 
members  of  Congress.  He  recommended  that  the  Yellowstone 
country  should  be  set  apart  for  a  national  park ;  and  his  recommen- 
dation was  adopted  in  1872  with  little  opposition. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  marvels  of  the  park  have  re- 
cently become  known  to  the  public.  Singular  as  it  may  appear,  we 
have  lived  near  this  wonderful  valley,  and  travelled  around  it  for 
years,  and  been  ignorant  of  its  wonders.  The  vast  extent  of  our 
country,  offering  such  ample  fields  for  exploration  elsewhere,  in  the 
interest  of  fortune  or  pleasure,  is  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  we  have  lived  upon  the  borders  of  this  fairyland  so  long  with- 
out knowing  it. 

An  English  lady,  familiar  with  the  finest  scenery  of  Europe,  wrote 
home  from  this  region  of  marvels  :  "  I  am  here  in  a  place  which, 
singularly  enough,  they  call  Wonderland.  Not  that  the  title  is  by 
any  means  inappropriate,  for  the  place  is,  indeed,  a  land  of  wonders  ; 
but  the  coincidence,  at  least,  is  somewhat  remarkable,  for  you  know 
what  the  associations  of  that  word  '  Wonderland '  are  to  me.  Well, 
here  I  am,  rubbing  my  eyes  every  day,  to  be  sure  that  I  am  not 
either  in  a  dream  or  in  a  new  world.  You  never  saw,  nor  could  you 
ever  imagine,  such  strange  sights  as  greet  us  here  at  every  turn.  It 
is  not  only  that  everything  is  big ;  that  is  characteristic  of  the  whole 
country,  everything  in  nature  being  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  we 
are  accustomed  to  in  Europe.  But  besides  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  a  waterfall,  —  and  a  big  one  too,  twice  as  high  as  Niagara,  — 
there  is  the  grandest  old  lot  of  geysers  and  boiling  springs  in  the 
world,  and  a  river  shut  in  for  several  miles  of  its  course  by  moun- 
tains rising  hundreds  of  feet  above  it,  —  what  they  call  a  caflon  (pro- 
nounced canyon},  the  walls  of  which  are  of  such  glowing  colors  that 
papa  said  he  could  compare  it  to  nothing  but  the  most  gorgeous 
sunset  he  had  ever  seen." 

The  Mammoth  Hot  Springs  are  situated  a  thousand  feet  above  the 
banks  of  Gardiner  River,  into  which  their  constant  overflow  runs. 
They  appear  in  terraces,  tier  upon  tier,  as  if  laid  out  by  a  skilful 
engineer.  The  hot  water  takes  up  calcareous  matter  in  its  course, 
and  deposits  it  below.  "The  slow  but  ceaseless  operation  of  the 
springs  has  resulted  in  building  up  terrace  after  terrace  of  scallop- 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


6l 


edged,  limpid  pools  and  basins  of  hot  water,  of  varied  size,  form,  and 
temperature." 

Mr.  Wisner  says:    "The  ascent  to  the  main  terrace,  of  active 
springs  is  not  difficult.     Stepping  upon  the  first  of  a  series  of  broad 


ledges  which  lead  to  the  base  of  the  terrace,  the  way  is  threaded 
through  a  maze  of  rills  of  hot  water  over  the  low  scalloped  rims  of 
limpid,  steaming  pools,  which  it  seems  sacrilege  to  tread.  The  nov- 
elty and  magnificence  of  the  scene  are  bewildering.  Not  distance,  but 


62  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

proximity,  lends  enchantment  to  the  view.  The  brilliancy  and  variety 
of  the  coloring  matter  about  the  pools,  as  well  as  the  delicacy  and 
beauty  of  the  formations,  are  indescribably  wonderful.  Terrace  after 
terrace  is  thus  surmounted,  some  of  these  eight  or  ten  feet  high  and 
several  yards  in  width  ;  others  are  mere  ledges.  On  each  of  these 
levels  the  water  collects  in  a  long  tier  of  nearly  semicircular  basins, 
of  different  diameters,  lying  close  together.  The  higher  terraces 
present  an  imposing  front,  the  contour  of  their  scalloped  margins  at 
once  suggesting  frozen  water-falls.  Over  the  rims  of  the  basins  on 
the  topmost  level  the  water  generally  pours  until  it  finds  its  way  into 
the  reservoirs  next  below,  repeating  this  process  till  the  bottom  of  the 
hill  is  reached,  where  the  flow  is  collected  and  carried  off  by  several 
channels  to  the  Gardiner  River. 

"  The  deposits  which  result  from  evaporation  at  the  margin  of 
each  basin  are  exquisite  in  form  and  color.  The  rims  are  fretted  with 
a  delicate  frost-work,  and  the  outside  of  each  bowl  is  beautifully 
adorned  with  a  honeycomb  pattern,  while  the  spaces  between  the 
curves  are-  often  filled  with  glistening  stalactites.  The  coating  of  the 
sides  of  the  basins  and  pools  takes  on  every  delicate  and  vivid  tint, 
rich  cream  and  salmon  colors  predominating,  but  these  deepening 
near  the  edges  into  brilliant  shades  of  red,  brown,  green,  and  yellow. 
The  largest  springs,  supplying  most  of  the  water  to  the  tiers  of  bowls 
on  each  of  the  terraces,  are  situated  on  a  broad,  level  space  covering 
some  acres  at  the  top  of  the  hill.  One  has  a  basin  forty  feet  in  length 
by  twenty-five  in  width.  Others  are  nearly  as  great.  The  water  is  a 
turquoise  blue,  and  so  perfectly  translucent  that  the  most  microscopic 
fretting  deep  down  upon  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  the  pools  is  plainly 
visible.  This  is  the  case  with  the  hot  spring-water  everywhere.  Its 
crystal  clearness  cannot  be  described  ;  it  must  be  seen  to  be  appreci- 
ated. The  crust  between  the  springs  seems  rather  treacherous  to 
the  foot,  and  it  is  impossible  to  get  about  without  soaking  the  shoes 
in  hot  water.  Most  of  the  springs  have  two  centres  of  ebullition,  at 
which,  doubtless,  the  water  is  at  the  boiling  point ;  but  at  the  edges 
the  temperature  is  much  lower.  Around  the  hottest  pools,  in  many 
cases,  there  are  strung  along  the  rim,  like  beads  on  a  necklace,  a  row 
of  nodules  large  as  hazel-nuts  and  hard  as  adamant.  The  play  of  the 
waters  as  they  seethe  up  from  the  cavernous  throats  of  the  pools,  and 
undulate  in  miniature  waves,  is  wonderful.  The  rays  of  light  are 
refracted  by  the  agitation  upon  the  surface,  and  are  resolved  into  all 
the  colors  of  the  prism." 

There  are  a  multitude  of  hot  springs  in  the  Park,  many  of  them 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  63 

sufficiently  hot  for  cooking  all  sorts  of  game.  Tourists  amuse  them- 
selves by  pulling  fish  out  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  and  without  removing 
them  from  the  hooks,  dropping  them  into  a  boiling  spring  near  by, 
where  they  are  soon  cooked  sufficiently  for  the  table.  Nature's  culi- 
nary arrangements  appear  to  be  about  as  fine  here  as  the  wildest 
imagination  could  invent. 

Mr.  Wisner  adds :  "  This  calcareous  deposit  covers  an  area  of 
three  square  miles.  Of  this,  the  recent  deposits,  on  which  the  springs 
are  at  present  found,  occupy  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres. 
Along  the  river  bank  there  are  still  many  active  boiling  springs.  For 
a  mile  up  the  hillside  there  is  terrace  after  terrace  of  extinct  springs. 
Then  comes  the  principal  point  of  present  activity,  which  extends  with 
gradually  waning  power  over  a  distance  of  a  mile  into  the  dense 
woods  on  the  top  of  the  mountain.  There  are  fourteen  well-defined 
terraces  within  the  bounds  mentioned,  which  are  now,  or  have  been 
at  one  time,  the  scene  of  boiling-spring  activity." 

From  the  foot  of  the  Upper  Falls  the  river  turns  somewhat 
abruptly  to  the  left,  pursuing  its  impetuous  way  through  a  pine- 
clad  gorge,  over  a  rocky  bed,  towards  the  Grand  Canon,  into  which 
the  Great  Falls  plunges  with  a  roar  and  majesty  indescribable.  The 
fall  is  at  least  three  hundred  feet,  or  twice  that  of  the  world-renowned 
Niagara.  Mr.  Wisner  says  :  "  The  scene  from  the  brink  of  the  fall, 
looking  into  the  profound  depth  of  the  canon,  is  of  strange  majesty 
and  indescribably  awe-inspiring.  A  roomy  platform  at  the  edge  of 
the  fall,  with  a  staunch  railway  on  the  river  side,  affords  a  very  good 
view  of  the  river  preparing  for  its  leap.  The  advancing  volume  of 
water  flows  rapidly  but  solidly  to  the  brink,  and  falls  with  a  tremen- 
dous shock  into  a  large  circular  foaming  caldron,  bounded  by  steep 
cliffs  eight  hundred  feet  high.  The  masses  of  water  seem  to  break 
into  fleecy  columns  and  sheets  of  glistening  foam  as  they  descend  ; 
but  they  nevertheless  strike  the  surface  of  the  pool  below  with  a  con- 
cussion so  heavy  that  they  are  forced  upwards  in  fountains  of  spray 
and  clouds  of  mist  which  wash  the  sides  of  the  canon,  nourishing  a 
rank  growth  of  mosses  and  algae  of  every  grade  of  green,  ochre, 
orange,  saffron,  red,  scarlet,  and  brown." 

Mr.  Gannett  speaks  as  follows  of  the  height  of  the  falls  :  - 

"  My  measurement  of  the  Lower  Fall  was  not  as  simple  in  method, 
and  allows  more  room  for  error  than  in  the  case  of  the  Upper  Fall. 
I  found  a  point  by  means  of  the  clinometer  on  the  eastern  wall  of 
the  canon,  and  very  near  the  fall,  at  the  same  level  as  its  top. 
Thence  I  stretched  the  line  down  the  cafton  wall  to  the  level  of  the 


64 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


foot  of  the  fall,  reaching  it  at  a  point  so  close  that  we  received  a 
thorough  drenching  from  the  spray.      Then,  with  a  clinometer,   I 


HE  YELLOWSTONE: 


measured  as  accurately  as  possible  the  angle  of  inclination  of  the 
line.     This  gave  as  the  height  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  feet. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  65 

Though  this  result  cannot  be  regarded  as  strictly  accurate,  still 
its  error  must  be  small,  and,  in  round  numbers,  three  hundred  feet 
may  be  regarded  as  a  close  approximation  to  the  true  height. 
Ludlow  measured  this  fall  directly  by  means  of  a  sounding-line,  ob- 
taining three  hundred  and  ten  feet  as  the  height,  a  result  agreeing 
quite  closely  with  mine,  especially  when  one  reflects  on  the  difficulty 
of  determining  when  the  weight  was  at  the  base  of  the  fall,  in  the 
cloud  of  mist  and  the  rushing  river.  Most  of  the  other  measure- 
ments are  barometric.  Such  was  that  of  Captain  Jones,  who  gave  a 
height  of  328.7  feet." 

We  are  able  to  furnish  a  view  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellow- 
stone where  the  waters  of  the  Great  Fall  tumble  into  it.  Let  the  reader 
study  this  remarkable  picture,  to  see  what  wonderful  sculpturing  nature 
has  done  here,  and  what  towers  and  pilasters  and  spires  and  pillars  the 
Great  Architect  has  reared  within  this  awful  gorge.  It  is  not  only 
the  colossal  grandeur  of  colonnade  rising  eight  hundred  feet  and  more 
above  the  foaming  cataract ;  but  all  the  "colors  of  the  rainbow  are 
painted  upon  those  fretted  walls,  often  blending  in  harmonious 
shades,  to  vie  with  the  finest  work  which  the  artist  spreads  upon 
canvas. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wayland  Hoyt  most  graphically  described  the  canon  as 
he  beheld  it,  as  follows  :  — 

"And  now,  where  shall  I  begin,  and  how  shall  I,  in  any  wise, 
describe  this  tremendous  sight  —  its  overpowering  grandeur,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  its  impressible  beauty  ? 

"Look  yonder  —  those  are  the  Lower  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone. 
They  are  not  the  grandest  in  the  world,  but  there  are  none  more 
beautiful.  There  is  not  the  breadth  and  dash  of  Niagara,  nor  is 
there  the  enormous  depth  of  leap  of  some  of  the  falls  of  the  Yosemite. 
But  here  is  majesty  of  its  own  kind,  and  beauty  too.  On  either  side 
are  vast  pinnacles  of  sculptured  rock.  There,  where  the  rock  opens 
for  the  river,  its  waters  are  compressed  from  a  width  of  two  hundred 
feet  between  the  Upper  and  Lower  Falls  to  one  hundred  feet  where  it 
takes  the  plunge.  The  shelf  of  rock  over  which  it  leaps  is  absolutely 
level.  The  water  seems  to  wait  a  moment  on  its  verge  ;  then  it  passes 
with  a  single  bound  of  three  hundred  feet  into  the  gorge  below.  It  is  a 
sheer,  unbroken,  compact,  shining  mass  of  silver  foam.  But  your  eyes 
are  all  the  time  distracted  from  the  fall  itself,  great  and  beautiful  as  it  is, 
to  its  marvellous  setting  —  to  the  surprising  overmastering  canon  into 
which  the  river  leaps  and  through  which  it  flows,  dwindling  to  but  a 
foamy  ribbon  there  in  its  appalling  depths.  As  you  cling  here  to 


66 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  67 

this  jutting  rock  the  falls  are  already  many  hundred  feet  below  you. 
The  falls  unroll  their  whiteness  down  amid  the  canon  glooms.  .  .  . 
These  rocky  sides  are  almost  perpendicular ;  indeed,  in  many  places 
the  boiling  springs  have  gouged  them  out  so  as  to  leave  overhanging 
cliffs  and  tables  at  the  top.  Take  a  stone  and  throw  it  over  —  you 
must  wait  long  before  you  hear  it  strike.  Nothing  more  awful  have 
I  ever  seen  than  the  yawning  of  that  chasm.  And  the  stillness, 
solemn  as  midnight,  profound  as  death  !  The  water  dashing  there, 
as  in  a  kind  of  agony,  against  those  rocks,  you  cannot  hear.  The 
mighty  distance  lays  the  ringer  of  its  silence  on  its  white  lips.  You 
are  oppressed  with  a  sense  of  danger.  It  is  as  though  the  vastness 
would  soon  force  you  from  the  rock  to  which  you  cling.  The  silence, 
the  sheer  depth,  the  gloom,  burden  you.  It  is  a  relief  to  feel  the 
firm  earth  beneath  your  feet  again,  as  you  carefully  crawl  back  from 
your  perching  place. 

"  But  this  is  not  all,  nor  is  the  half  yet  told.  As  soon  as  you  can 
stand  it,  go  out  on  that  jutting  rock  again  and  mark  the  sculpturing 
of  God  upon  those  vast  and  solemn  walls.  By  dash  of  wind  and 
wave,  by  forces  of  the  frost,  by  file  of  snow  plunge  and  glacier  and 
mountain  torrent,  by  the  hot  breath  of  boiling  springs,  those  walls 
have  been  cut  into  the  most  various  and  surprising  shapes.  I  have 
seen  the  Middle  Age  castles  along  the  Rhine  :  there  those  castles  are 
reproduced  exactly.  I  have  seen  the  soaring  summits  of  the  great 
cathedral  spires  in  the  country  beyond  the  sea :  there  they  stand  in 
prototype,  only  loftier  and  sublimer. 

"And  then,  of  course,  and  almost  beyond  all  else,  you  are  fasci- 
nated by  the  magnificence  and  utter  opulence  of  color.  Those  are 
not  simply  gray  and  hoary  depths  and  reaches  and  domes  and  pinna- 
cles of  sullen  rock.  The  whole  gorge  flames.  It  is  as  though  rain- 
bows had  fallen  out  of  the  sky  and  hung  themselves  there  like 
glorious  banners.  The  underlying  color  is  the  clearest  yellow  ;  this 
flushes  onward  into  orange.  Down  at  the  base  the  deepest  mosses 
unroll  their  draperies  of  the  most  vivid  green  ;  browns,  sweet  and 
soft,  do  their  blending  ;  white  rocks  stand  spectral ;  turrets  of  rock 
shoot  up  as  crimson  as  though  they  were  drenched  through  with 
blood.  It  is  a  wilderness  of  color.  It  is  impossible  that  even  the 
pencil  of  an  artist  can  tell  it.  What  you  would  call,  accustomed  to 
the  softer  tints  of  nature,  a  great  exaggeration,  would  be  the  utmost 
tameness  compared  with  the  reality.  It  is  as  though  the  most  glori- 
ous sunset  you  ever  saw  had  been  caught  and  held  upon  that  resplen- 
dent, awful  gorge. 


68 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


"  Through  nearly  all  the  hours  of  that  afternoon  until  the  sunset 
shadows  came,  and  afterwards,  amid  the  moonbeams,  I  waited  there, 
clinging  to  the  rock,  jutting  out  into  that  overpowering,  gorgeous 
chasm.  I  was  appalled  and  fascinated,  afraid  and  yet  compelled  to 
cling  there.  It  was  an  epoch  in  my  life." 

Glass  Cliffs  are  not  usual.  Sight-seers  are  usually  satisfied  with 
sandstone  or  granite  ones,  provided  they  are  tall  enough.  But  here 
are  cliffs  composed  of  volcanic  glass,  with  a  glass  road  along  their 
base.  Nature  made  the  cliffs  just  as  they  are,  but  man  made  the 
road  of  materials  which  nature  furnished.  Mr.  Wisner  describes  the 
cliffs  thus :  — 


OBSIDIAN     CLIFFS. 


"  These  cliffs  rise  like  basalt  in  almost  vertical  columns  from  the 
eastern  shores  of  Beaver  Lake,  and  are  probably  unequalled  in  the 
world.  They  are  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  height  and  one  thousand  feet  in  length,  although  there 
are  croppings  of  the  same  material  to  be  traced  as  far  as  the 
Lake. of  the  Woods,  two  miles  beyond.  This  volcanic  glass  glis- 
tens like  jet,  but  is  quite  opaque.  Sometimes  it  is  variegated 
with  streaks  of  red  and  yellow.  Large  blocks  of  it  have  been, 
from  time  to  time,  detached,  forming  a  sloping  barricade  at  an 
angle  of  45°  to  the  hot  springs  at  the  margin  of  Beaver  Lake.  It 
was  necessary  to  build  a  carriage  road  over  these  blocks.  This  was 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


69 


accomplished  by  Colonel  Norris,  late  superintendent  of  the  Park,  by 
building  great  fires  upon  the  largest  masses,  which,  after  they  had 
been  sufficiently  expanded  by  the  heat,  were  suddenly  cooled  by 
dashing  cold  water  over  them.  This  had  the  effect  of  fracturing  the 
blocks  into  fragments  which  could  be  handled,  and  a  glass  carriage- 
way a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length  was  made.  Without  doubt  this  is 
the  only  piece  of  glass  road  in  the  world.  Blocks  of  obsidian  are  to 
be  found  along  the  Gardiner  River  for  a  few  miles  below  the  cliffs, 
and  the  whole  region  from  Paradise  Valley,  in  the  Upper  Yellow- 
stone, southward,  is  strewn  with  chips  and  pebbles  of  this  material. 
On  the  bays  of  the  Yellowstone  Lake,  and  in  many  of  the  clear 

stream  beds,  tiny 
fragments  of  obsid- 
ian are  to  be  seen 
glittering  like 
gems. 

"  Obsidian  is  a 
species  of  lava, 
which,  according 
to  Pliny,  was  first 
found  in  Ethiopia. 
The  name,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have 
been  applied  by 
the  ancients  to 
Chian  marble,  and 
is  probably  a  false 
spelling  of  the 
Greek  opsianns, 
signifying  to  re- 
flect images,  be- 
cause the  Chian 
7iiarble  was  as  hard  to  cut  as 
the  volcanic  glass  and  was 
used  for  mirrors. 

"  The  Indians  used  this  glass  in 
making  arrow-heads,  weapons,  and 
tools.  Relics  of  this  sort,  which  tourists  find,  seem  to  be  made  of 
the  superior  quality  of  obsidian  which  was  procured  at  the  cliffs. 
An  impure  variety,  black,  with  white  flecks,  is  common  at  other 
points  within  the  Park,  notably  near  the  Great  Falls  of  the  Yellow- 


row  ER   FALLS. 


70  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

stone,  at  the  cascade  at  Crystal  Falls,  near  Shoshone  Lake,  on  the 
Continental  Divide." 

It  is  twenty-one  miles  from  the  Mammoth  Hot  Springs  to  Tower 
Falls,  and  a  very  good  wagon  road  leads  thither.  The  distance 
between  the  two  localities  is  crowded  with  marvels,  such  as  the  lava 
beds  of  Blacktail  Deer,  and  other  creeks,  Hell-roaring  Creek,  Dry 
Canon,  and  down  the  mountain  slope  of  two  thousand  feet  into 
Pleasant  Valley  and  Baronette's  Bridge,  at  the  forks  of  the  Yellow- 
stone River.  "The  Falls  are  surrounded  by  columns  of  volcanic 
breccia,  rising  fifty  feet  above  them,  standing  like  the  towers  upon  some 
mediaeval  fortress."  The  fall  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet.  Mr. 
Langford,  superintendent  of  the  Park,  says  :  "  Some  resemble  towers, 
others  the  spires  of  churches,  and  others  still  shoot  up  little  and  slender 
as  the  minarets  of  a  mosque.  Some  of  the  loftiest  of  these  formations, 
standing  upon  the  very  brink  of  the  Falls,  are  accessible  to  an  expert 
and  adventurous  climber.  The  position  attained  on  one  of  these 
narrow  summits,  amid  the  uproar  of  waters,  to  the  height  of  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  boiling  chasm,  as  the  writer  can  affirm, 
requires  a  steady  head  and  strong  nerves ;  yet  the  view  which 
rewards  the  temerity  of  the  exploit  is  full  of  compensations.  Below 
the  fall  the  stream  descends  in  numerous  rapids  with  frightful 
velocity,  through  a  gloomy  gorge,  to  its  union  with  the  Yellowstone. 
Its  bed  is  filled  with  enormous  bowlders,  against  which  the  rushing 
waters  break  with  great  fury.  Many  of  the  capricious  formations 
wrought  from  the  shale  excite  merriment  as  well  as  wonder.  Of 
this  kind  especially  is  the  huge  mass,  sixty  feet  in  height,  which, 
from  its  supposed  resemblance  to  the  proverbial  foot  of  his  Satanic 
Majesty,  is  called  the  Devil's  Hoof.  The  scenery  of  mountain,  rock, 
and  forest,  surrounding  the  Falls,  is  very  beautiful.  The  name  of 
Tower  Falls  was,  of  course,  suggested  by  some  of  the  most  conspic- 
uous features  of  the  scenery." 

Lieutenant  Doane,  in  his  report  to  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, says :  "  The  sides  of  the  chasm  are  worn  into  caverns,  lined 
with  various  tinted  mosses,  nourished  by  clouds  of  spray  which  rise 
from  the  cataract ;  while  above,  and  to  the  left,  a  spur  from  the  great 
plateau  rises  over  all,  with  a  perpendicular  front  of  four  hundred 
feet.  Nothing  can  be  more  chastely  beautiful  than  this  lovely  cas- 
cade, hidden  away  in  the  dim  light  of  overshadowing  rocks  and 
woods,  its  very  voice  hushed  to  a  low  murmur,  unheard  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  few  hundred  yards.  Thousands  might  pass  within  a  half 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


mile,  and  not  dream  of  its  existence ;  but  once  seen,  it  passes  to  the 
list  of  most  pleasant  memories." 


KEPLER'S   CASCADES   ON    THE    FIREHOLE   RIVER. 

A  marvel  indeed  !  It  is  one  of  the  things  of  nature  which  can- 
not be  extravagantly  described.  After  making  large  drafts  upon  the 
"  King's  English,"  there  is  still  some  margin  left  for  accurate  por- 


72  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 

trayal.  The  symmetry  of  these  cascades  is  one  of  their  chief  attrac- 
tions, so  exact  to  the  demands  of  Art  has  Nature  been.  Mr.  Wisner 
has  the  following  about  them  :  — 

"  These  beautiful  cascades  are  situated  about  two  miles  eastward 
of  Old  Faithful  Geyser.  They  consist  of  a  succession  of  eight  or 
ten  cascades  of  varying  height,  the  highest,  perhaps,  fifty  feet.  The 
water  has  cut  a  narrow  channel  through  the  basaltic  rock,  forming  a 
profound  cafion,  through  which  the  torrent  frets  and  fumes  in  wild 
tumult.  From  the  best  point  of  observation,  a  high  and  rocky 
plateau  some  distance  below  the  principal  cascade,  the  scene  is  quite 
romantic  and  picturesque.  The  foaming  waters  rush  down  the 
gorge,  roaring  and  tumbling  against  the  solid  walls  of  rock  which 
hem  them  in.  The  canon  is  very  deep,  and  its  sheer  descent  is 
broken  by  rough  and  jagged  crags  which  beetle  over  the  stream. 
Slender,  symmetrical  pines,  straight  as  lances,  grow  on  the  brink  of 
the  cafion,  and  on  the  inclosing  mountain  slopes,  as  far  as  the  vision 
reaches.  They  also  cling  to  every  nook  and  cranny  on  the  sides  of 
the  terrible  gorge,  standing  like  sentinels  on  every  moss-clad  point  of 
vantage.  Westward  lie  the  purple  mountains,  majestic  in  outline, 
and  clothed  with  the  virgin  forest  of  sombre  pine.  In  the  middle 
distance  arise  filmy  columns  of  vapor  from  the  geysers  and  hot 
springs  of  the  Upper  Basin,  floating  upward,  and  fading  into  space, 
as  an  incense  offering  to  the  Creator  of  the  wondrously  beautiful 
scene.  Kepler's  Cascades  are  really  quite  bewitching  in  their  loveli- 
ness, the  harmony  of  the  picture  leaving  nothing  to  be  desired,  as 
the  romantic  is  here  picturesquely  perfect,  the  colors 'of  the  vegeta- 
tion on  the  rocks  in  contrast  to  the  foaming  water  delighting  the 
eye.  The  visitor  reluctantly  leaves  this  idyllic  spot." 

Yellowstone  Park  can  boast  of  one  of  the  most  wonderful  buttes 
known,  as  the  illustration  proves  (p.  73).  Nature  has  built  up  here 
a  stone  palace,  of  which  Art  itself  might  well  be  proud.  It  is  remark- 
able workmanship,  when  we  consider  that  it  was  built  without  square 
or  compass  or  the  sound  of  a  hammer.  Its  size,  form,  and  symmetry 
impress  the  beholder  as  only  a  marvel  can. 


GEYSERS. 

The  geysers  are  the  great  marvels  of  the  Yellowstone  Park.  They 
are  very  numerous,  and  many  of  them  are  beautiful  and  grand  beyond 
description.  The  most  important  ones  are  found  in  "The  Upper 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


74 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


Geyser  Basin,"  which  extends  "from  Old  Faithful  down  the  main 
Firehole  River  to  a  point  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Firehole 
River,  and  along  Iron  Spring  Creek,  a  branch  of  the  last-named 

stream."  This 
basin  is  four 
miles  square, 
but  the  chief 
geysers  are  sit- 
uated on  both 
sides  of  the  riv- 
er within  a 
half-mile.  1 1 
is  surrounded 
by  mountains 
rising  fifteen 
hundred  feet, 
their  sides  be- 
ing quite  heavi- 
ly timbered. 
Here  opens  a 
scene  of  splen- 
dor. "  Clouds 
of  steam  hang 
as  a  pall  over 
the  Basin,  and 
columns  of  va- 
por float  up- 
ward like  water 
wraiths  from 
between  the 
tree-tops  of  the 
surrounding 
forests.  The 
earth  is  full 
of  rumbling 
and  gurgling 
sounds,  and  the 
air  is  laden 

with  sulphurous  fumes.  Stupendous  fountains  of  boiling  water, 
veiled  in  spray,  shoot  toward  heaven,  at  varying  heights,  like  cas- 
cades reversed,  glinting  and  coruscating  and  scintillating  in  the  sun- 


OLD    FAITHFUL    GEYSER. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  75 

• 

light  until  their  force  is  expended,  when  they  fall  in  showers  of  flash- 
ing pearls  with  a  shock  that  shakes  the  ground.  Of  course,  the  vari- 
ous geysers  of  the  Basin  are  never  simultaneously  in  action.  The 
periods  of  eruption  of  each  one  of  them  are  more  or  less  irregular. 
Many  geysers  which  now  exist  will,  doubtless,  sooner  or  later  cease 
operation,  and  new  ones  will  form  to  take  the  place  of  those  which 
dwindle  away." 

We  rely  chiefly  upon  the  report  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  for  a  description  of 
the  principal  geysers. 

The  eruptions  of  the  Old  Faithful  geyser  are  so  regular  that  a 
favorable  opportunity  is  offered  the  tourist  for  careful  observation. 
It  played  once  an  hour  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States  Survey, 
who  highly  appreciated  their  opportunity.  It  was  this  characteristic 
of  the  geyser  which  led  the  Survey  to  christen  it  "  Old  Faithful." 
The  eruption  begins  with  from  six  to  twelve  spurts,  continuing  about 
four  minutes,  growing  more  powerful,  and  then  followed  by  a  remark- 
able succession  of  jets,  accompanied  by  a  startling  roar  and  clouds  of 
steam,  the  water  shooting  upward  into  the  air  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  at  its  maximum. 

Lieutenant  Doane,  of  the  expedition,  wrote  :  "  Close  around  the 
opening  are  built  up  walls  eight  feet  in  height,  of  spherical  nodules 
from  six  inches  to  three  feet  in  diameter.  These,  in  turn,  are  covered 
on  the  surface  with  minute  globules  of  calcareous  [silicious]  stalag- 
mite^), encrusted  with  a  thin  glazing  of  silica.  The  rock  at  a  dis- 
tance appears  the  color  of  ashes  of  roses,  but  near  at  hand  shows  a 
metallic  gray,  with  pink  and  yellow  margins  of  the  utmost  delicacy. 
Being  constantly  wet,  the  colors  are  brilliant  beyond  description. 
Sloping  gently  from  this  rim  of  the  crater  in  every  direction,  the 
rocks  are  full  of  cavities  in  successive  terraces,  forming  little  pools, 
with  margins  of  silica  the  color  of  silver,  the  cavities  being  of  irreg- 
ular shape,  constantly  full  of  hot  water,  and  precipitating  delicate 
coral-like  beads  of  a  bright  saffron.  These  cavities  are  also  fringed 
with  rock  around  the  edges  in  meshes  as  delicate  as  the  finest  lace. 
Diminutive  yellow  columns  rise  from  their  depths,  capped  with  small 
tablets  of  rock,  and  resembling  flowers  growing  in  the  water.  Some 
of  them  are  filled  with  oval  pebbles  of  a  brilliant  white  color,  and 
others  with  a  yellowish  frost-work  which  builds  up  gradually  in  solid 
stalagmites  (?).  Receding  still  farther  from  the  crater,  the  cavities 
become  gradually  larger  and  the  water  cooler,  causing  changes  in  the 
brilliant  colorings,  and  also  in  the  formation  of  the  deposits.  .  .  . 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  deposits  are  apparently  as  delicate  as  the  down  on  the  butterfly's 
wing,  both  in  texture  and  coloring,  yet  are  firm  and  solid  beneath  the 
tread.  .  .  .  Those  who  have  seen  the  stage  representations  of 
'Aladdin's  Cave'  and  the  'Home  of  the  Dragon-Fly,'  as  produced 

in  a  first-class  the- 
atre, can  form  an 
idea  of  the  won- 
derful coloring, 
but  not  of  the  in- 
tricate frost-work 
of  this  fairy -like 
yet  solid  mound  of 
rock,  growing  up 
amid  clouds  of 
steam  and  showers 
of  boiling  water. 
One  instinctively 
touches  the  hot 
ledges  with  his 
hands,  and  sounds 
with  a  stick  the 
depths  of  the  cavi- 
ties in  the  slope, 
in  utter  doubt  in 
the  evidence  of  his 
own  eyes.  The 
beauty  of  the  scene 
takes  away  one's 
breath.  It  is  over- 
powering, tran- 
scending the  vis- 
ions of  the  Mos- 
lem's Paradise." 

Dr.      Hayden 
wrote  :   "With  lit- 

BEE  HIVE  GEYSER.  tie   or   no    prelimi- 

nary   warning,     it 

shot  up  a  column  of  water  about  six  feet  in  diameter  to  the  height  of 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  by  a  succession  of 
impulses  seemed  to  hold  it  up  steadily  for  the  space  of  fifteen  min- 
utes, the  great  mass  of  'the  water  falling  directly  back  into  the  basin, 


On  the  Line  of  U.  P.  Railroad. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  77 

and  flowing  over  the  edges  and  down  the  sides  in  large  streams. 
When  the  action  ceases,  the  water  recedes  beyond  sight,  and  nothing 
is  heard  but  the  occasional  escape  of  steam  until  another  exhibition 
occurs.  This  is  one  of  the  most  accommodating  geysers  in  the  basin, 
and  during  our  stay  played  once  an  hour  quite  regularly." 

Bee  Hive  Geyser  was  so  named  because  of  the  resemblance 
of  its  cone  to  an  old-fashioned  straw  beehive.  Its  cone  is  from  three 
to  five  feet  in  height,  and  five  feet  in  diameter  at  its  base.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  survey  party  says  of  it :  "  Not  one  of  our  company  sup- 
posed that  it  was  a  geyser,  and  among  so  many  wonders  it  had  almost 
escaped  notice.  While  we  were  at  breakfast,  upon  the  morning  of 
our  departure,  a  column  of  water,  entirely  filling  the  crater,  shot  from 
it,  which,  by  accurate  triangular  measurement,  we  found  to  be  two 
hundred  and  nineteen  feet  in  height.  The  stream  did  not  deflect 
more  than  four  or  five  feet  from  a  vertical  line,  and  the  eruption 
lasted  eighteen  minutes." 

Another  member  of  the  expedition  wrote:  "It  is  beautifully 
coated  with  beaded  silica.  There  is  no  surrounding  terraced  deposit, 
as  there  is  about  most  of  the  craters.  This  is  probably  due  to  the 
fact  that  very  little  water  falls  around  it.  The  orifice  on  the  summit 
of  the  cone  measures  two  feet  by  three,  and  a  line  dropped  into  the 
tube  reaches  a  depth  of  twenty-one  feet.  Just  outside  of  the  cone 
are  several  vents  or  steam-holes,  one  of  which  acts  as  a  sort  of  pre- 
liminary vent  or  signal  for  the  eruption  of  the  geyser.  The  eruption 
of  the  Bee  Hive  is  very  fine  and  peculiar  to  itself,  no  other  geyser  in 
the  basin  acting  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  preceded  by  a  slight 
escape  of  steam  in  a  steady  stream  of  great  force,  much  as  water  is 
projected  from  the  nozzle  of  hose  used  with  steam  fire-engines.  The 
column  is  somewhat  fan-shaped,  and  keeps  a  high  average  height. 
The  ground  is  shaken  during  the  action.  The  geyser  acts  certainly 
once  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  occasionally  oftener."  On  the  i8th 
of  September,  1882,  the  writer  observed  two  fine  eruptions  with  an 
interval  of  only  fourteen  hours.  The  height  of  the  column  varies 
from  a  hundred  and  seventy  to  two  hundred  and  nineteen  feet ;  and 
when  the  spray  is  between  the  beholder  and  the  sun,  a  magnificent 
rainbow  is  visible. 

The  Giantess  Geyser  has  no  cone.  It  is  situated  four  hundred  feet 
from  the  Bee  Hive,  higher  up,  and  spouts  from  the  top  of  the 
ground.  Its  aperture  is  twenty-four  by  thirty-four  feet.  The  depth 
of  its  basin  is  sixty-three  feet.  The  eruption  occurs  once  in  fourteen 
days,  and  it  sends  up  a  mighty  column  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


in  a 
feet 


the  air,  which  assumes  the 
form  of  separate  fountains, 
one  above  the  other.  The 
eruption  is  accompanied 
with  deep  rumbling  and 
trembling  of  the  earth, 
which  is  startling  indeed, 
especially  in  the  night, 
when  its  greatest  activity 
appears.  Mr.  Langford 
reported  :  "  No  water  could 
be  discovered,  but  we  could 
distinctly  hear  it  gurgling 
and  boiling  at  a  great  dis- 
tance below.  Suddenly  it 
began  to  rise,  boiling  and 
spluttering,  and  sending 
out  huge  masses  of  steam, 
causing  a  general  stam- 
pede of  our  company, 
driving  us  some  distance 
from  our  point  of  observa- 
tion. When  within  about 
forty  feet  of  the  surface  it 
became  stationary,  and  we 
returned  to  look  down 
upon  it.  It  was  foaming 
and  surging  at  a  terrible 
rate,  occasionally  emitting 
small  jets  of  hot  water 
nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the 
orifice.  All  at  once  it 
seemed  seized  with  a  fear- 
ful spasm,  and  rose  with 
incredible  rapidity,  hardly 
affording  us  time  to  flee  to 
a  safe  distance,  when  it 
burst  from  the  orifice  with 

THE   GIANTESS   GEYSER.  .,, 

terrific  momentum,   rising 

column  the  full  size  of  this  immense  aperture  to  the  height  of  sixty 
;  and  through  and  out  of  the  apex  of  this  vast  aqueous  mass  five  or 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


79 


six  lesser  jets  or  round  columns  of  water,  varying  in  size  from  six  to 
fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  were  projected  to  the  marvellous  height 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  These  lesser  jets,  so  much  higher 
than  the  main  column,  and  shooting  through  it,  doubtless  proceed 
from  auxiliary  pipes  leading  into  the  principal  orifice  near  the  bottom, 
where  the  explosive  force  is  greater.  .  .  .  This  grand  eruption  con- 
tinued for  twenty  minutes,  and  was  the  most  magnificent  sight  we 


FAN    GEYSER. 


ever  witnessed.  We  were  standing  on  the  side  of  the  geyser  nearest 
the  sun,  the  gleams  of  which  filled  the  sparkling  columns  of  water 
and  spray  with  myriads  of  rainbows,  whose  arches  were  constantly 
changing,  dipping  and  fluttering  hither  and  thither,  and  disappearing 
only  to  be  succeeded  by  others,  again  and  again,  amid  the  aqueous 
column,  while  the  minute  globules,  into  which  the  spent  jets  were 
diffused  when  falling,  sparkled  like  a  shower  of  diamonds  ;  and  around 
every  shadow  which  the  denser  clouds  of  vapor,  interrupting  the  sun's 


8o 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 


rays,  cast  upon  the  column,  could  be  seen  a  luminous  circle,  radiant 
with  all  the  colors  of  the  prism,  and  resembling  the  halo  of  glory 
represented  in  paintings  as  encircling  the  head  of  Divinity.  All  that 
we  had  previously  witnessed  seemed  tame  in  comparison  with  the 
perfect  grandeur  and  beauty  of  this  display.  Two  of  these  wonderful 
eruptions  occurred  during  the  twenty-two  hours  we  remained  in  the 
valley.  This  geyser  we  named  the  Giantess." 

The  Fan  Geyser  is  very  beautiful.  Its  eruptions  are  frequent, 
and  last  from  ten  to  twenty  minutes.  It  discharges  five  radiating 
jets  to  the  height  of  sixty  feet,  the  falling  drops  and  spray  giving  the 
appearance  of  a  fan.  Forty  feet  distant,  a  rent  discharges  a  great 
volume  of  vapor,  rising  sixty  feet  or  more  into  the  air,  attended  by 
loud,  sharp  reports.  Lieutenant  Doane  says  :  — 

"  First  the  steam  would  rush  from  the  upper  crater,  roaring  vio- 
lently, then  this  would  suddenly  cease,  to  be  followed  by  a  fan-like 
jet  of  water  rising  from  the  lower  crater  to  the  height  of  over  forty 
feet,  playing  for  perhaps  two  minutes ;  then  this  would  suddenly  stop 
flowing,  and  the  steam  would  again  rush  forth  for  a  time.  Occasion- 
ally the  small  crater  threw  a  transverse  stream,  alternating  with  the 
others  ;  and  thus  they  played  on  for  hours,  after  which  all  would  sub- 
side to  a  gentle  bubbling." 

Without  absorbing  more  space  on  the  subject  of  geysers,  we  only 
add,  that  these  considered  are  not,  perhaps,. the  most  marvellou's  ones 
in  the  Park.  Dr.  Hayden  claims  that  there  are  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand hot  springs  and  geysers  in  the  Yellowstone  district:  The  illus- 
trations furnished  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  characteristics  of  all.  So 
that  we  only  add  a  table  showing  the  time  of  action  of  the  principal 
geysers  in  the  Upper  Basin  :  — 


NAME  OF  GEYSER. 

INTERVAL  OR  PERIOD. 

DURATION  OF  ERUPTION. 

HEIGHT  OF  COLUMN. 

i.  Old  Faithful  . 
2.  Bee  Hive  .  .  . 
3.  Lioness  .... 
4.  Lion  ..... 

50  to  70  minutes  .  . 
7  to  25  hours  .  .  . 
Not  known  .... 
Not  known  .... 

3  to  5  minutes  .... 
3  to  1  8  minutes  .  .  . 
About  3  minutes  .  .  . 
About  5  minutes  .  .  . 

75  to  15°- 
200  to  219. 

60. 

ye. 

5.  Giantess 

14  days  .  .  . 

1  2  hours  .  .  . 

2CO 

6.  Saw  Mill  .  .  . 
7.  Grand  

Very  frequent  .  .  . 
1  6  to  31  hours 

l%  to  3  hours  .... 
10  to  42  minutes  .  .  . 

15  to  20. 
95  to  200. 

8.  Turban  .... 
9.  Castle  

About  15  minutes  . 
Once  in  48  hours  . 

15  seconds  to  5  min.  . 
30  minutes  

25- 

IOO. 

10.   Giant   ... 

Once  in  4  days 

1  30  to  over  200 

MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


8l 


NAME  OF  GEYSER. 

INTERVAL  OR  PERIOD. 

DURATION  OF  ERUPTION. 

HEIGHT  OF  COLUMN. 

1  1  .  Young  Faithful 

Very  frequent  .  .  . 

IO  to  30. 

12.   Oblong  .... 

Once  or  twice  daily 

6  minutes    

13.   Splendid    .  .  . 
14.   Grotto    .... 

About  3  hours  .  .  . 
Several  times  a  day 

4  to  10  minutes    .  .  . 
30  minutes  

2OO. 

2O  to  60. 

15.    Fan  

Three  times  daily  . 

5  to  9  minutes  .      .  . 

About  60. 

1  6.    Riverside  .  .  . 

Three  times  daily  . 

10  to  13  minutes  .  .  . 

About  60. 

A  tourist  says  of  the  Geyser  Basin :  "  It  looked  as  if  it  had  been 
built  up  of  old  refuse  matter  from  foundries ;  as  if  for  centuries  men 
had  sifted  ashes  and  thrown  out  clinkers  and  bad  coal  and  waste 
stones  and  junk  and  every  conceivable  sort  of  scorched  metallic  thing 
into  this  chasm  ;  and  as  if  several  apothecary  shops  had  burnt  down 
there  too,  for  there  was  a  new  color  and  worse  odor  at  every  other 
step.  And  the  little  guide,  striking  his  cane  or  fingers  into  bank 
after  bank,  kept  bringing  forth  crumbs  and  powders,  and  offering 
them  to  us  to  taste  or  smell,  with,  '  Here  is  pure  alum ' ;  '  Here  is 
Epsom  salts';  'Here  is  sulphur';  'Here  is  cinnebar';  'Here  is 
soda,'  till  we  felt  as  if  we  were  in  the  wholesale  drug-shop  of  the 
universe.  Meantime,  he  skipped  along  from  rock  to  rock  like  a 
chamois ;  and  we  followed  on  as  best  we  might,  through  the  hot 
steam,  which  came  up  hissing  and  fizzing  out  of  every  hole  and  from 
beneath  every  stone.  A  brook  of  hot  water  running  swiftly  over  and 
among  rocks  ;  pools  and  cauldrons  of  hot  water  boiling  and  bubbling 
by  dozens  all  around  ;  black  openings,  most  fearful  of  all  where  no 
water  can  be  seen,  but  from  which  roaring  jets  of  steam  come  out, — 
this  is  the  bottom  of  the  Geyser  Canon.  You  think  you  will  plant 
your  stick  on  the  ground  to  steady  yourself  for  a  spring  from  one 
hot  stone  to  another,  and  down  goes  your  stick,  down,  down  into 
soft,  smoking,  sulphurous,  gravelly  sand,  so  far  and  so  suddenly  that 
you  almost  fall  on  your  face.  You  draw  the  stick  up  and  out,  and  a 
small  column  of  hot  steam  follows  it.  Next  you  make  a  misstep,  and 
involuntarily  catch  hold  of  a  projecting  point  of  rock  with  one  hand. 
You  let  go,  as  if  it  were  fire  itself.  It  does  not  absolutely  blister 
you,  but  it  is  too  hot  to  hold.  Your  foot  slips  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
out  of  the  guide's  footsteps,  which  you  are  following  as  carefully  as  if 
life  and  death  depended  on  it,  and  you  go  in  over  shoes  in  water,  so 
hot  that  you  scream  and  think  you  are  scalded.  You  are  not  ;  but  if 
you  had  slipped  a  few  inches  further  to  right  or  to  left,  you  would 


82  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

have  been,  for  on  each  side  inky-black  water  is  boiling  so  that  it  bub- 
bles aloud.  All  this  while,  besides  the  hissing  and  fizzing  of  the 
steam  and  boiling  and  bubbling  of  the  water  which'  you  see,  there 
is  a  deep  violoncello  undertone  of  boiling  and  bubbling  and  hissing 
and  fizzing  of  water  and  steam  which  you  do  not  see,  which  are  deep 
down  under  your  feet,  —  deep  down  to  right  of  you,  deep  down  to  left 
of  you,  —  making  the  very  canon  itself  throb  and  quiver.  How  thick 
the  crust  may  be,  nobody  knows.  That  it  can  be  thick  at  all  seems 
improbable  when,  prick  it  where  you  may,  with  ever  so  slender  a  stick, 
the  hot  steam  rushes  out." 

A  tourist  remarked,  after  having  taken  in  the  pleasures  of  the 
Yellowstone,  "  See  Yellowstone  Park,  and  die  !  "  It  is  very  foolish 
advice  ;  for  the  man  who  has  beheld  its  marvels  ought  to  desire  to 
live  all  the  more,  to  glorify  the  Great  Architect,  who  builds  so  grandly 
even  where  the  wild  beast  only  dwells.  Looking  "  through  Nature 
up  to  Nature's  God"  can  be  done  easily  in  this  "Wonderland,"  and 
the  overwhelming  influence  may  help  one  to  live  better  all  his  life. 
See  Yellowstone  Park,  and  LIVE  !  is  better  counsel  for  the  human 
race.  All  of  its  impressions  are  grand  and  ennobling  in  the  highest 
degree, — just  the  inspiring  elements  which  lift  the  soul  into  honor, 
and  beget  lofty  aims. 

YOSEMITE    VALLEY. 

The  marvels  of  the  Yosemite  Valley  stand  pre-eminent  among  the 
wonders  of  the  New  West.  Europeans  who  have  explored  this  valley 
are  surprised  that  Americans  should  go  abroad  to  enjoy  Alpine  scen- 
ery, when  California  can  introduce  them  to  grander  sights. 

The  Yosemite  Valley  was  not  visited  by  a  white  man  until  1850. 
Then,  two  adventurers  penetrated  it  in  search  of  gold  mines  ;  and  the 
Indians,  who  held  possession  of  all  that  region,  murdered  them.  It 
is  only  thirty-two  years  (1855)  since  a  party  of  tourisfs  entered  the  val- 
ley. Since  then,  writers  and  painters  from  all  parts  of  the  world  have 
explored  it,  to  tell  of  its  marvels  to  astonished  nations. 

In  1857  Yosemite  was  formally  opened  to  the  public;  and  in 
1 864  it  was  set  apart  forever  as  a  national  park.  It  is  situated  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  of  San  Francisco,  about  midway  of  the 
State  from  north  to  south.  Formerly  it  was  quite  difficult  of  access, 
but  now  it  can  be  easily  reached.  A  tourist  writes  of  this  valley  of 
enchantment  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  Yosemite  !    As  well  interpret  God  in  thirty-nine  articles  as 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE.  83 

portray  it  to  you  by  word  of  mouth  or  pen.  As  well  reproduce  cas- 
tle or  cathedral  by  a  stolen  frieze  or  broken  column  as  this  assem- 
blage of  natural  wonder  and  beauty  by  photograph  or  painting.  The 
overpowering  sense  of  the  sublime,  of  awful  desolation,  of  transcend- 
ing marvellousness  and  unexpectedness,  that  swept  over  us,  as  we 
reined  our  horses  sharply  out  of  green  forests,  and  stood  upon  the 
high  jutting  rock  that  overlooked  this  rolling,  upheaving  sea  of  gran- 
ite' mountains,  holding  far  down  its  rough  lap  this  vale  of  beauty  of 
meadow  and  grove  and  river,  —  such  tide  of  feeling,  such  stoppage  of 
ordinary  emotions,  comes  at  rare  intervals  in  any  life.  It  was  the 
confrontal  of  God  face  to  face,  as  in  great  danger,  in  solemn,  sudden 
death.  It  was  Niagara  magnified.  All  that  was  mortal  shrank 
back ;  all  that  was  immortal  swept  to  the  front  and  bent  down  in 
awe.  We  sat  till  the  rich  elements  of  beauty  came  out  of  the  majesty 
and  the  desolation,  and  then,  eager  to  get  nearer,  pressed  tired  horses 
down  the  steep,  rough  path  into  the  valley. 

"  And  here  we  wandered  and  wondered  and  worshipped  for  four 
days.  Under  sunshine  and  shadow ;  by  rich,  mellow  moonlight ;  by 
stars  opening  double  wide  their  eager  eyes ;  through  a  peculiar 
August  haze,  delicate,  glowing,  creamy,  yet  hardly  perceptible  as  a 
distinct  element,  —  the  New  England  Indian  summer  haze  doubly 
refined,  —  by  morning  and  evening  twilight,  across  camp-fires,  up 
from  beds  upon  the  ground  through  all  the  watches  of  the  night,  have 
we  seen  this,  the  great  natural  wonder  of  our  western  world.  Indeed, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  no  so  limited  space  in  all  the  known 
world  offers  such  majestic  and  impressive  beauty.  Niagara  alone 
divides  honors  with  it  in  America.  Only  the  whole  of  Switzerland 
can  surpass  it ;  no  one  scene  in  all  the  Alps  can  match  this  so  viv- 
idly before  me  now  in  the  things  that  mark  the  memory  and  impress 
all  the  senses  for  beauty  and  for  sublimity." 

"  Yosemite  "  is  a  chasm  rather  than  a  valley  ;  averaging  one-half 
mile  in  width,  and  from  six  to  eight  miles  in  length,  completely  sur- 
rounded by  a  perpendicular  granite  wall  from  a  half-mile  to  a  mile  in 
height.  At  "  Inspiration  Point  "  the  wonders  of  the  valley  burst 
upon  the  view.  If  the  tourist's  head  is  level,  he  can  look  straight 
down  five  thousand  feet. 

"  Cathedral  Rock  "  lifts  its  peak  high  into  the  air,  and  stands  out 
prominently  in  the  grand  panorama.  The  "Rock"  is  two  thousand 
six  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high,  and  its  loftiest  peak  rises  five  hun- 
dred feet  higher,  its  magnificent  proportions  presenting  a  scene  of  sur- 
prising grandeur.  Six  Washington  monuments,  one  upon  another, 


84 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


scarcely  cover  the  height  of  these  tremendous  "  Rocks."     The  writer 
just  quoted  says  :  — 

"  Here  and  there  are  grand  massive  domes,  as  perfect  in  shape  as 
Boston's  state-house  dome,  and  bigger  than  the  entire  of  a  dozen 
state-houses.  The  highest  rock  of  the  valley  is  a  perfect  half-dome, 


CATHEDRAL   ROCK. 


split  sharp  and  square  in  the  middle,  and  rising  near  a  mile  (or  five 
thousand  feet),  — as  high  as  Mount  Washington  is  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  —  over  the  little  lake  which  perfectly  mirrors  its  majestic 
form  at  its  foot.  Perfect  pyramids  take  their  places  in  the  wall ; 
then  these  pyramids  come  in  families,  and  mount  away  one  after  and 
above  the  other,  as  'The  Three  Brothers.'  'The  Cathedral  Rocks' 
and  '  The  Cathedral  Spires '  unite  the  great  impressiveness,  the 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


EL  CAPITAN. 


86 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


beauty,  and  the  fantastic  forms  of  the  gothic  architecture.  From 
their  shape  and  color  alike,  it  is  easy  to  imagine,  in  looking  upon 
them,  that  you  are  under  the  ruins  of  an  old  gothic  cathedral,  to 
which  those  of  Cologne  and  Milan  are  but  baby -houses." 


BRIDAL   VEIL    FALL. 

Stupendous  as  "  Cathedral  Rock  "  is,  "  El  Capitan  "  is  still  more 
massive  and  imposing.  It  is  three  thousand  three  hundred  feet  high, 
aud  projects  squarely  out  into  the  valley,  rising  vertically.  Not  a 
sprig  or  spear  of  vegetation  appears  upon  its  sides,  only  bare,  rugged 
granite.  It  is  difficult  to  appreciate  the  size  of  this  rock  ;  but  some 
idea  of  its  dimensions  may  be  acquired  from  the  fact,  that,  in  a  clear 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  87 

day,  it  can  be  seen  from  San  Joaquin  plains,  from  fifty  to  sixty  miles 
away.  A  writer  says  :  — 

"You  descend  by  a  zigzag  trail  to  the  valley.  It  seems  like 
descending  into  a  grave.  You  feel  imprisoned,  for  all  about  there  is 
no  exit  except  over  the  precipitous  sides.  You  are  four  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  nearly  a  mile  below  the,  surrounding  moun- 
tains, which  environ  this  sombre  valley.  The  trees  look  stunted. 
They  are  two  hundred  feet  high.  The  mere  ribbon,  the  Bridal  Veil 
Falls,  is  found  quite  a  torrent,  and  from  the  new  view  seems  a  single 
fall  of  nine  hundred  feet.  El  Capitan,  half-mile  away,  you  think  you 
can  hit  with  a  pebble.  Grasp  its  height !  It  is  giant  masonry  most 
matchless,  and  for  clean-cut  bulk  is  without  example.  If  it  toppled 
over,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  would  be  covered  by  the  prostrate 
mass.  It  is  as  lofty  as  the  heaped-up  spires  of  twelve  Trinity 
churches.  St.  Peter's  is  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  high.  It 
would  take  eight  to  gain  the  altitude  of  El  Capitan's  crest.  The  top- 
most pinnacle  of  Strasburg  Cathedral  glitters  in  the  sun  four  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  feet  above  its  foundation  walls.  It  is  less  than  one- 
seventh  as  high  as  El  Capitan." 

Bridal  Veil  Fall  can  be  seen  so  far  away  that  it  appears  like  a 
mere  ribbon.  On  approaching  it,  however,  it  becomes  a  torrent 
tumbling  six  hundred  and  thirty  feet  at  the  first  leap,  continuing 
three  hundred  feet  more  in  beautiful  cascades.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  valley,  directly  opposite,  "The  Virgin's  Tears  Creek"  makes  a 
fall  of  one  thousand  feet.  But  this  fall,  unlike  the  Bridal  Veil,  is  in 
operation  only  a  portion  of  the  year,  as  the  Creek  dries  up  early  in 
the  season.  In  volume  of  water,  height  of  fall,  beauty,  and  grandeur, 
it  is  far  superior  to  the  celebrated  "  Stanbach  "  of  Switzerland  ;  and 
yet  it  is  hardly  noticed  by  travellers  in  the  Yosemite  Valley  because 
there  are  so  many  grander  ones.  Bentley,  who  has  seen  the  Bridal 
Veil,  with  its  majestic  surroundings,  at  night,  says  :  — 

"  Thousands  of  travellers  and  tourists  make  pilgrimage  to  it  each 
year,  and  yet  no  pen,  brush,  camera,  nor  tongue  has  ever,  nor  ever 
can,  describe  it  in  all  its  variety  of  grandeur  and  interest,  so  satisfac- 
torily as  it  reveals  itself  to  the  visitor.  Who  can  paint  its  dark  and 
ever-changing  shadows,  sweetly  nestling  under  those  grim  and  awe- 
inspiring  walls  ?  Who  can  write  the  sweet,  yet  dream-like  story  of 
its  cascades,  falls,  and  deep,  crystal  pools,  among  those  cliffs  and 
rock-ribbed,  sky-piercing  gray  giants,  or  set  to  music  the  plaintive 
cadence  of  the  summer  wind  through  those  proud  pines  and  firs  ? 
Can  you  trip  to  step  so  fairy  as  yon  meadow  brook  delights  itself 


88 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


among  its  bordering  grass  and  trailing  sedge,  or  laugh  as  it,  as  bound- 
ing o'er  each  rocky  ledge  ?     Did  ever  mirror  give  back  beauty's  smile 


YOSEMITE    FALLS. 


as  that  mirror  lake,  or  make  grim  mountain  peak  more  grim  ?  Where 
does  early  morning  linger  more  lovingly,  or  evening  shade  more 
grateful  seem  ?  Oh,  where  does  night  seem  more  solemn  than  in 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  89 

Yosemite  ?  The  roaring  cataract,  the  foamy  flutter  of  the  '  Bridal 
Veil,'  gleaming  like  a  silver  band  in  the  soft  moonlight,  yon  lamps 
of  heaven  glossed  over  by  fleecy  clouds,  half  secreting,  now  half  dis- 
closing, the  tender  murmur  of  balsam-freighted  night  wind  ;  gurgling 
brooklet,  and  shrill  alarm  of  owl  or  dove,  are  of  the  legion  of  voices 
in  which  kind  nature  salutes  you  in  this  valley  of  the  valleys,  Yo- 
semite ! " 

Niagara's  descent  is  only  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet ;  that  of 
Yosemite  is  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-four.  Sixteen 
Niagaras  added  together  only  equal  the  stupendous  plunge  of  Yo- 
semite Falls.  It  is  the  grandest  waterfall  in  the  whole  world,  when 
the  volume  of  water  which  it  pours  is  estimated.  Bentley's  "  Hand- 
book "  says  :  — 

"The  Yosemite  Fall  is  produced  by  a  creek  of  the  same  name, 
which  heads  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mount  Hoffman  Group 
about  ten  miles  northeast  of  the  valley.  Being  fed  by  melting  snows 
exclusively,  and  running  through  its  whole  course  over  almost  bare 
granite  rock,  its  volume  varies  greatly  at  different  times  and  seasons, 
according  to  the  amount  of  snow  remaining  unmelted,  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  air,  and  the  clearness  or  cloudiness  of  the  weather.  In  the 
spring,  when  the  snow  first  begins  to  melt  with  rapidity,  the  volume 
of  water  is  very  great ;  as  ordinarily  seen  by  visitors  in  the  most 
favorable  portion  of  the  season  —  say  from  May  to  July  —  the  quan- 
tity will  be  less ;  still  later,  it  shrinks  down  to  a  very  much  smaller 
volume.  The  vertical  height  of  the  lip  of  the  fall,  above  the  valley, 
is,  in  round  numbers,  two  thousand  six  hundred  feet.  The  lip  or 
edge  of  the  fall  is  a  great  rounded  mass  of  granite,  polished  to  the 
last  degree,  on  which  it  was  found  to  be  a  very  hazardous  matter  to 
move.  The  fall  is  not  in  one  perpendicular  sheet ;  there  is  first  a 
vertical  descent  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  feet,  when  the  water 
strikes  on  what  seems  to  be  a  projecting  ledge,  but  which,  in  reality, 
is  a  shelf  or  recess,  almost  a  third  of  a  mile  back  from  the  front  of 
the  lower  portion  of  the  cliff.  From  here  the  water  finds  its  way,  in 
a  series  of  cascades,  down  a  descent  equal  to  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  perpendicular,  and  then  gives  one  plunge  of  about  four  hun- 
dred feet  on  to  a  low  tains  of  rocks  at  the  base  of  the  precipice. 
The  whole  arrangement  and  succession  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
fall  can  be  easily  understood  by  ascending  to  the  base  of  the  Upper 
Fall,  which  is  a  very  interesting  and  not  a  difficult  climb,  or  from 
Sentinel  Dome,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  where  the  specta- 
tor is  at  a  considerable  distance  (two  and  a  half  miles)  above  its  edge. 


MARVELS  OF  7 HE  NEW    WEST. 


As  the  various  portions  of  the  fall  are  nearly  in  one  vertical  plane, 
the  effect  of  the  whole  is  nearly  as  grand,  and  perhaps  even  more 
picturesque,  than  it  would  be  if  the  descent  were  made  in  one  leap 
from  the  top  of  the  cliff  to  the  level  of  the  valley.  Nor  is  the  gran- 
deur or  beauty  of  the  fall  perceptibly  diminished  by  even  a  very  con- 
siderable diminution  of  the  quantity  of  water  from  its  highest  stage." 

Bentley  says  :  "  The  Nevada  Fall  is,  in  every  respect,  one  of  the 
grandest  waterfalls  in  the  world,  whether  we  consider  its  vertical 
height,  the  purity  and  volume  of  the  river  which  forms  it,  or  the  stu- 
pendous scenery  by  which  it  is  environed.  The  fall  is  not  quite  per- 
pendicular, as  there  is,  near 
the  summit,  a  ledge  of 
rock  which  receives  a  por- 
tion of  the  water  and 
throws  it  off  with  a  pe- 
culiar twist,  adding  con- 
siderably to  the  general 
picturesque  effect.  A  de- 
termination of  the  height 
of  the  fall  was  not  easy,  on 
account  of  the  blinding 
spray  at  the  bottom,  and 
the  uncertainty  of  the  ex- 
act spot  where  the  water 
strikes.  Indeed,  this  seems 
to  vary  in  the  Nevada  as 
well,  although  not  so  much 
as  in  the  Vernal  Fall.  To 
call  the  Vernal  four  hun- 
dred and  the  Nevada  one  hundred  feet,  in  round  numbers,  will  be 
near  enough  to  the  truth.  The  descent  of  the  river  in  the  rapids, 
between  the  two  falls,  is  nearly  three  hundred  feet.  Within  the  val- 
ley are  other  wonderful  falls,  other  stupendous  cliffs,  overtopped  by 
lofty  cloud-capped  mountains  behind  whose  rocky  shoulders  slumber 
great  fields  of  snow  ;  while  around  are  the  highest  mountain  peaks 
within  the  United  States,  a  vast  panorama  of  mountains,  dark-wooded 
valleys  and  smiling  landscapes,  everywhere." 

The  towering  dome  seen  beyond  the  brink  of  the  fall  is  "  Liberty 
Cap,"  in  itself  an  object  of  surpassing  interest  in  the  Yosemite.  Its 
summit  is  two  thousand  feet  higher  than  the  fall,  five  thousand  feet 
above  the  valley  below,  and  nine  thousand  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  gi 

The  "  Fall "  and  "  Liberty  Cap  "  together  create  a  scene  over  which 
painter  and  poet  become  surcharged  with  enthusiasm. 

Sentinel  Rock  is  shaped  somewhat  like  an  obelisk,  its  striking 
resemblance  to  a  watch-tower  suggesting  its  name.  The  obelisk 
form  continues  down  one  thousand  feet  from  its  summit ;  and  below 
that  point  it  unites  with  the  wall  of  the  valley.  Its  height  above  the 


SENTINEL    ROCK. 


river  is  three  thousand  and  forty-three  feet,  —  one  of  the  most  majes- 
tic masses  of  rock  in  the  Yosemite  Valley. 

The  illustration  locates  the  Hotel  Leidigs  on  a  beautiful  spot 
which  the  towering  sentinel  overlooks  from  its  lofty  altitude. 

Ludlow,  in  his  "  Heart  of  the  Continent,"  discusses  the  process  of 
formation  of  these  quaint  obelisks  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  ascended  one  of  the  most  practicable  hills  among  the  number 


92  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

crowned  by  sculpturesque  formations.  The  hill  was  a  mere  mass  of 
sand  and  debris  from  decayed  rocks,  about  a  hundred  feet  high,  coni- 
cal, and  bearing  on  its  summit  an  irregular  group  of  pillars.  After  a 
protracted  examination,  I  found  the  formation  to  consist  of  a  peculiar 
friable  conglomerate,  which  has  no  precise  parallel  in  any  of  the 
eastern  strata.  Some  of  the  pillars  were  nearly  cylindrical,  others 
were  long  cones,  and  a  number  were  spindle-shaped,  or  like  a  buoy 
set  on  end.  With  hardly  an  exception,  they  were  surmounted  by 
capitals  of  remarkable  projection  beyond  their  base.  These  I  found 
slightly  different  in  composition  from  the  shafts.  The  conglomerate 
of  the  latter  was  an  irregular  mixture  of  fragments  from  all  the  hypo- 
gene  rocks  of  the  range,  including  quartzose  pebbles,  pure  crystals  of 
silex,  various  crytalline  sandstones,  gneiss,  solitary  hornblende  and 
feldspar,  nodular  ironstones,  rude  agates  and  gun-flint,  the  whole 
loosely  cemented  in  a  matrix  composed  of  clay  lime  (most  likely  from 
the  decomposition  of  gypsum)  and  red  oxide  of  iron.  The  disk  which 
formed  the  largely  projecting  capital  seemed  to  represent  the  origi- 
nal diameter  of  the  pillar,  and  apparently  retained  its  proportions  in 
virtue  of  a  much  closer  texture  and  larger  per  cent  of  iron  in  its  com- 
position. These  were  often  so  apparent  that  the  pillars  had  a  con- 
tour of  the  most  rugged  description,  and  a  tinge  of  pale  cream  yellow, 
while  the  capitals  were  of  a  brick-dust  color,  with  excess  of  red  oxide, 
and  nearly  as  uniform  in  their  granulation  as  fine  millstone-grit. 
The  shape  of  these  formations  seemed,  therefore,  to  turn  on  the  com- 
parative resistance  to  atmospheric  influences  possessed  by  their  vari- 
ous parts.  Many  other  indications  led  me  to  reason  down  all  the 
hypothetical  agencies  which  might  have  produced  them,  to  a  single 
one  —  air,  in  its  chemical  and  mechanical  operations,  and  usually 
in  both.  .  .  .  One  characteristic  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  the  sys- 
tem of  vast  indentations,  cutting  through  from  the  top  to  the  bottom 
of  the  range.  Some  of  these  take  the  form  of  funnels,  others  are 
deep,  tortuous  galleries,  known  as  passes,  or  canons  ;  but  all  have 
their  openings  towards  the  plains.  The  descending  masses  of  air  fall 
into  these  funnels  or  sinuous  canals,  as  they  slide  down,  concentrat- 
ing themselves  and  acquiring  a  vertical  motion.  When  they  issue 
from  the  mouth  of  the  gorge  at  the  base  of  the  range,  they  are  gigan- 
tic augers,  with  a  revolution  faster  than  man's  cunningest  machinery, 
and  a  cutting-edge  of  silex  obtained  from  the  first  sand-heap  caught 
up  by  their  fury.  Thus  armed  with  their  own  resistless  motion,  and 
an  incisive  thread  of  the  hardest  mineral  next  to  the  diamond,  they 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


93 


sweep  on  over  the  plains  to  excavate,  pull  down,  or  carve  in  new 
forms,  whatever  friable  formation  lies  in  their  way." 

Although  the  marvels  of  Yosemite  fill  us  with  wonder,  California 
has  yet  other  sights  equally  novel.  Her  "  BIG  TREES  "  must  be 
classed  with  the  wonders  of  the.  world.  A  journey  from  Maine  to 
California  to  see  them  alone  is  honored  with  interest  by  the  sight. 
Trees  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  forty  feet  in  diameter, 

must  be  cata- 
logued with  first- 
class  marvels. 
They  were  dis- 
covered in  1852, 
and,  soon  after, 
the  hollow  trunk 
of  one  was  for- 
warded to  New 
York  City,  where 
it  was  converted 
into  a  grocery 
store.  We  fur- 
nish (p.  95)  an  il- 
lustration of  one 
of  these  giants  of 
the  forest.  It  is 
no  great  matter 
that  a  stage  line 
can  find  ample 
room  at  the  base 
of  its  trunk,  oc- 
cupying only  a 
fractional  part  of 
its  diameter ;  for 

the  tallest  load  of  hay  may  be  driven  through  the  hollow  trunk  of 
one  of  these  trees,  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  if  prostrate. 

The  "  Hotel  de  Redwood  "  was  originally  five  hollow  trees  ;  one 
devoted  to  office  and  bar-room,  another  to  quarters  for  the  proprie- 
tor's family,  and  dining-room,  and  the  remainder  to  lodgings,  etc. 

"The  New  West"  contains  a  very  interesting  account  of  these 
trees,  from  which  we  make  the  following  extracts  :  — 

"They  were  discovered  in  1852  and  named  by  Endlicher,  in  honor 
of  an  Indian  chief  of  the  Cherokees.  They  are  limited  in  range, 


SECTION    OF   A    BIG   TREE. 


94  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

being  confined  to  California,  and  grow  entirely  in  groups.  Of  these 
groups  there  are  eight,  or  nine  if  the  Mariposa  be  considered  as  two. 
Taking  these  groups  from  north  to  south  the  Calaveras  comes  first, 
then  the  Stanislaus,  Crane  Flat,  Mariposa,  Fresno,  King's  and 
Keweah  rivers,  North  Fork  of  the  Tule  River  and  South  Fork  of 
Tule  River. 

"  The  Calaveras  group  is  in  the  county  of  the  same  name,  near  the 
crossing  of  the  Sierras  by  Silver  Mountain  Pass.  The  belt  of  trees 
is  three  thousand  two  hundred  by  seven  hundred  feetj  and  in  that 
space  are  ninety-two  of  the  monarchs.  The  most  notable  being  the 
following  :  — 

Height.  Circumference. 

Father  of  the  Forest     .     .     .  <;    T.  '«-;'.     .  v.     .     .     .  435  feet  no  feet 

Mother  of  the  Forest    .     .     .    -.•':.;'•»••>"    .     .     .     .     .  321     "  90     " 

Hercules ...;>;.';•„     .     .     .     .     .  320     "  95     " 

Hermit '.'.-.     ,     ...     .    ,*    ....  318     "  60     " 

Pride  of  the  Forest  .     .     .     .*•;     .    ;..\;  >-.',:.     ;  \.    »  276     "  60     " 

Three  Graces       .     .     .     .     ..;•..,'  ...    .     --"V    •     .     .  295     "  92     " 

Husband  and  Wife      .     .     ,....:'.     ...     .     .     .  252     "  60     " 

Burnt  Tree 330  f'l'g.  97     " 

Old  Maid *   .;';..;    '...'.    ...;'.".          ...  ... 

Old  Bachelor ;  .  '"'.     . '.' .     ,     .     .....  ..-'-...        ...  ... 

Siamese  Twins ...  ... 

Mother  and  Sons ;,....          ...  ... 

Two  Guardians '."'.'..'»..,..•_.::      ...  ... 

"  Here  under  the  shade  is  one  of  California's  pet  retreats.  There 
is  one  fallen  monster,  which  must  have  stood  four  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  the  air  and  had  a  diameter  of  forty  feet.  Another  engaged 
the  efforts  of  five  men  for  twenty-five  days  in  cutting,  and  on  the 
level  surface  of  the  stump  thirty-two  dancers  find  ample  room.  Old 
Goliah  shows  the  marks  of  a  fire,  that,  according  to  surrounding  trees 
untouched,  must  have  raged  a  thousand  years  ago. 

"  The  diameter  of  the  largest  is  thirty-three  feet ;  the  circumference 
of  the  largest,  five  feet  above  the  ground,  sixty-one  feet.  This  is  the 
only  one  more  than  sixty  feet  in  circumference. 

"The  Stanislaus  group,  five  miles  distant,  contains  seven  or  eight 
hundred  trees  nearly  as  remarkable.  Crane  Flat  has  those  boasting 
a  diameter  of  twenty-three  feet,  and  circumference  of  fifty-seven  feet. 
The  Mariposa  group,  which  generally  divides  honors  with  Calaveras, 
is  situated  sixteen  miles  south  of  the  Lower  Hotel  in  Yosemite.  A 
trip  to  Yosemite  is  incomplete  unless  it  includes  a  visit  to  both  of 
them. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


95 


"The  same  wise 
foresight  which  gave 
Yosemite  to  the 
State,  gave  Mari- 
posa  to  be  held  in 
perpetuity.  The 
grant  is  two  miles 
square.  It  has  been 
improved  and  made 
of  easy  access.  The 
Tule  River  Groups 
were  the  last  discov- 
ered, being  found  in 
i86jf.  While  Cala- 
veras  and  Mariposa 
lead  in  point  of  be- 
ing known,  the 
others  are  worthy 
any  reasonable  ex- 
penditure of  time 
and  money. 

"Gazing  on  a 
mountain  there 
comes  no  thought 
that  it  has  been  a 
witness  to  the  pass- 
ing events  of  the 
ages.  But  these 
trees  have  shaded 
races  dead  for  hun- 
dreds of  years.  They 
live,  and  seem  al- 
most possessed  of 
minds;  and  when 
those  who  now  rest 
under  their  branch- 
es are  dust,  they  will 
still  live,  and  future  generations  may  conjecture  who  has  seen  them 
in  ages  gone.  They  sprouted  before  the  Christian  era  dawned,  and 
unconcerned  they  grew,  while  nations  rose  and  fell.  Who  knows 
what  may  transpire  till  when  the  earth  shall  tremble  to  their  crash- 


STAGE    LINE. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


ing  fall  ?  Or  how  long  shall  their  fluted  Corinthiai.  columns  sway 
grandly  to  the  winds  of  the  Pacific  ?  " 

That  a  pioneer  should  set  up  housekeeping  in  the  hollow  trunk  of 
one  of  these  big  trees  is  not  at  all  strange,  for  he  has  an  ample  tene- 
ment there  without  the  trouble  of  lathing  and  plastering.  A  hollow 
tree,  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  in  diameter,  may  be  partitioned  into 
several  comfortable  rooms  —  space  enough  for  quite  a  numerous 
family. 

We  conclude  our  remarks  upon  these  giants  of  the  forest  by  an 
extract  from  the  pen  of  one 
who  has  sat  beneath  their 
shadows  :  — 

"Wild  calculations  have 
been  made  of  the  ages  of 
the  larger  of  these  trees ; 
but  one  of  the  oldest  in  the 
Calaveras  Grove  being  cut 
down  and  the  rings  of  the 
wood  counted,  its  age  proved 
to  be  one  thousand  three 
hundred  years ;  and  proba- 
bly none  now  upon  the 
ground  date  back  farther 
than  the  Christian  era. 
They  began  with  our  mod- 
ern civilization  ;  they  were 
just  sprouting  when  the  Star 
of  Bethlehem  rose  and  stood 
for  a  sign  of  its  origin  ;  they 
have  been  ripening  in  beau- 
ty and  power  through  these  PIONEER  CABIN. 
nineteen  centuries;  and 

they  stand  forth  now,  a  type  of  the  majesty  and  grace  of  Him  with 
whose  life  they  are  coeval.  Certainly  they  are  chief  among  the  nat- 
ural curiosities  and  marvels  of  Western  America,  of  the  known 
world  ;  and  though  not  to  be  compared,  in  the  impressions  they  make 
and  the  emotions  they  arouse,  to  the  great  rock  scenery  of  the  Yo- 
semite,  which  inevitably  carries  the  spectator  up  to  the  Infinite  Crea- 
tor and  Father  of  all,  they  do  stand  for  all  that  has  been  claimed  for 
them  in  wonderful  greatness  and  majestic  beauty." 

"  Trees  of  God  !  "  remarked  a  European  tourist. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


97 


Professor  Whitney  presents  the  following  table  of  measurements 
of  height  and  circumference  of  a  number  of  the  trees  in  the  Mariposa 
Grove :  — 


No. 

HEIGHT. 

CIRCUMFERENCE 
AT  GROUND. 

CIRCUMFERENCE 
Six  FEET 
ABOVE  GROUND. 

REMARKS. 

12 

244 

62. 

Very  fine  symmetrical  tree. 

«5 

272 

Fine,  sound  tree. 

16 

86.5 

Thirty-one    feet    in    diameter; 

hollow. 

20 

72.5 

55-' 

Fine  tree. 

21 

44- 

Very  fine  tree;    not  swollen  at 

base. 

27 

250 

48. 

29 

89.8 

31 

1  86 

35.7 

29.6 

Very  straight  and  symmetrical. 

35 

65- 

50.8 

38 

226 

27. 

49 

194 

5i 

218 

56. 

39- 

Very  fine  tree. 

52 

249 

40. 

Fine  tree. 

60 

8l.6 

59- 

Very  fine  tree,  but  burned  at 

base. 

64 

82.4                    50. 

Very  fine  tree. 

66 

221 

39-8 

69 

219 

35-7 

70 

225 

43-9 

77 

197 

27.8 

102 

225 

5°- 

Very  fine  tree. 

158 

223 

164 

243 

27.6 

169 

79.6 

Much  burned  at  base. 

I7I 

82.7 

Badly  burned  on  one  side. 

174 

268 

40.8 

194 

192 

46. 

Two  trees  united  at  base. 

205 

229 

87.8 

Much  burned  on  one  side;   for- 

merly over  one  hundred  feet 

in  circumference. 

2O6 

235 

70.4 

216 

63.2 

Very  large  tree;   much  burned 

at  base. 

226 

219 

48. 

Fine  tree. 

236 

256 

46. 

238 

57- 

Twenty-six    feet    in    diameter; 

burned  on  one  side. 

239 

I87 

26.6 

245             270 

81.6 

67.2 

Burned  on  one  side. 

98 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


No. 

HEIGHT. 

CIRCUMFERENCE 
AT  GROUND. 

CIRCUMFERENCE 
Six  FEET 
ABOVE  GROUND. 

REMARKS. 

253 

74-3 

60. 

262 

56. 

Half  burned  at  base. 

275 

68. 

286 

76. 

Burned  on  one  side  nearly  to 

centre. 

290 

46. 

301 

51- 

304 

260 

93-7 

Largest    tree    in    the     grove; 

twenty-seven  feet  in  diame- 

ter, but  all  burned  away  on 

one  side. 

33° 

91  .6 

Splendid  tree;    over  one  hun- 

dred   feet   in   circumference 

originally,  but  much  burned 

at  base. 

348 

227 

5«- 

THE   GARDEN   OF  THE   GODS. 

"  Have  you  been  to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods  ? "  This  is  a  stereo- 
typed question  in  Colorado.  The  "  Garden "  occupies  a  place  so 
prominent  in  the  public  estimation,  that  a  visit  to  it  must  not  be  long 
delayed.  He  who  fails  to  see  it  might  as  well  fail  to  see  the  New 
West,  many  would  say.  It  surely  is  a  place  of  transcendent  interest ; 
and  is  one  of  the  marvels  that  will  live  long  in  the  memory. 

The  "  Garden  "  is  five  miles  from  Colorado  Springs,  and  about 
seventy-five  miles  from  Denver.  It  is  reached  from  the  springs  by 
what  is  known  as  Mesa  road.  For  a  mile  or  more  the  road  ascends 
the  high  tableland,  when  for  three  miles  it  crosses  the  almost  level 
summit,  from  which  the  "  Beautiful  Gate  "  of  the  "  Garden  "  is  seen, 
and  then  descends  ten  or  fifteen  hundred  feet  into  Camp  Creek  Val- 
ley. One  mile  further,  along  a  lovely  stream,  and  the  tourist  finds 
himself  in  front  of  the  gate. 

It  is  not  a  gate  of  human  workmanship.  There  is  an  air  of  the 
artificial  about  it,  because  the  massive  portals  seem  to  have  been 
carved  ;  but  the  workmanship  is  all  divine.  The  plan,  too,  is  divine. 
The  pillars  of  the  gate,  on  either  side,  composed  of  red  sandstone, 
are  three  hundred  and  eighty  feet  high, — too  high  for  any  one  but 
the  Great  Architect  to  think  of  rearing.  A  beholder  adds,  without 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


99 


the  least  extravagance,  "There  is  another  parapet  of  white  stone, 
and  inner  columns  of  various  colors,  which  might  well  be  the  ruins 
of  a  vast  heathen  temple,  or  the  shrine  of  the  long-buried  gods.  The 
impression  produced  by  the  '  Garden  of  the  Gods '  varies  greatly 
with  the  time  of  day  and  the  climatic  conditions  under  which  it  is 
seen.  Immediately  after  rain  its  hues  are  deeper,  and  it  becomes  so 
vividly  red  that  an  exact  representation  of  it  would  be  scouted  at  once 
as  a  distorted  vision  of  the  painter.  In  the  soft  light  of  evening  a 
sagy  green  of  exquisite  delicacy  suffuses  itself  over  the  vegetation 
from  which  the  rocks  in  all  directions  rise ;  while  the  last  rays  of 


GATEWAY  TO  THE  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS. 


the  departing  sun  cause  the  enormous  tablets  of  stone  to  flash  out 
with  surpassing  grandeur.  As  a  rule,  to  see  the  garden  to  the  best 
effect  it  should  be  approached  from  Colorado  Springs  in  the  morning 
and  from  Manitou  at  eventime.  If  possible,  it  should  be  visited  at 
both  times,  and  also  by  moonlight,  when  the  colors  die  away,  and 
strange  and  almost  unearthly  forms  take  their  place." 

Entering  the  portals,  with  Pike's  Peak  looming  up  in  front,  and 
objects  of  the  strangest  and  most  fantastic  forms  appearing  on  every 
hand,  the  thoughtful  visitor  is  disposed  to  uncover  his  head  as  if  in 
the  presence  of  the  Wise  Builder  of  this  natural  amphitheatre. 

"  See  there ! "  said  our  guide,  pointing  to  a  towering  rock  three 
or  four  hundred  feet  high,  "  the  bear  and  seal  ;  the  bear  taking  his 


IOO 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


ease,  and  the  seal  crawling  up  to  keep  him  company."  And,  sure 
enough,  there  was  the  menagerie  on  exhibition  far  above  us,  the  two 
aforesaid  animals,  in  stone,  appearing  to  be  as  perfect  in  form  as  if 
carved  by  human  hands. 

"And  there  is  one  of  our  'boys  in  blue,'  "  continued  our  guide, 
pointing  in  another  direction.  "See  that  soldier  yonder ?"  It  re- 
quired no  aid  of  the  imagination  to  discover  the  soldier  in  a  sitting 
posture,  as  far  up  towards  the  sky  as  the  seal  and  bear.  Further 
on,  seeing  a  hideous-looking  creature  in  rock,  we  asked :  "  That 
monster  yonder, — 
what  do  you  call  him  ?  " 
The  image  was  nearly 
as  big  as  Jumbo,  sitting 
upon  his  haunches,  mi- 
nus fore  paws,  but  pos- 
sessing a  mammoth 
mouth,  wide  open,  as  if 
to  gulp  down  the  pas- 
ser-by, and  the  large 
eyes  staring  at  us  in  hot 
anger.  "  There  is  no 
name  for  that,  so  far  as 
I  know,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "Then  call  it 
No  Name"  we  replied  ; 
"that  would  be  appro- 
priate. It  is  said  that 
tourists  have  given 
names  to  all  these  ob- 
jects which  are  named,  so  we  will  dubb  this  nameless  creature,  No 
NAME."  We  had  scarcely  ceased  discussing  this  last  strange  un- 
couth object,  when  it  was  announced,  "Here  comes  grandmother." 
Turning  to  the  right,  we  beheld  a  good  imitation  of  an  old  woman,  not 
wearing  a  particularly  pleasant  countenance,  nor  apparelled  exactly 
according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  but,  nevertheless,  about  as 
good  an  imitation  of  an  Indian  grandmother,  with  a  pappoose  on  her 
back,  as  the  average  sculptor  can  carve  in  stone. 

We  may  add  here  a  paragraph  from  Dr.  Mary  E.  Blake,  who 
described  her  feelings  after  entering  "within  the  gate."  "The 
impression  is  of  something  mighty,  unreal,  and  supernatural.  Of  the 
gods  surely  —  but  the  gods  of  the  Norse  Walhalla  in  some  of  their 


BEAR  AND  SEAL. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


IOI 


strange  outbursts  of  wild  rage  or  uncouth  playfulness.  The  beauty- 
loving  divinities  of  Greece  and  Rome  could  have  nothing  in  common 
with  such  sublime  awkwardness.  Jove's  ambrosial  curls  must  shake 
in  another  Olympia  than  this.  Weird  and  grotesque,  but  solemn  and 
awful  at  the  same  time,  as  if  one  stood  on  the  confines  of  another 
world  and  soon  the  veil  would  be  rent  which  divided  them.  Words 
are  worse  than  useless  to  describe  such  a  picture.  Perhaps  if  one 
could  live  in  the  shadow  of  its  savage  grandeur  for  months,  until  his 
soul  were  permeated,  language  would  begin  to  find  itself  flowing  in 

proper  channels,  but  in 
the  first  stupor  of  aston- 
ishment one  must  only 
hold  his  breath." 

Says  another  (H.  H.) 
of  the  general  appear- 
ance of  things  in  this 
weird  place :  — 

"  You  wind  among 
rocks  of  every  conceiv- 
able and  inconceivable 
shape  and  size,  from 
pebbles  up  to  gigantic 
bowlders,  from  queer, 
grotesque  little  mon- 
strosities, looking  like 
seals,  fishes,  cats,  or 
masks,  up  to  colossal 
monstrosities,  looking 
like  elephants,  like  huge 

gargoyles,  like  giants,  like  sphinxes  eighty  feet  high,  all  bright  red, 
all  motionless  and  silent,  with  a  strange  look  of  having  been  just 
stopped  and  held  back  in  the  very  climax  of  some  supernatural  catas- 
trophe. The  stillness,  the  absence  of  living  things,  the  preponder- 
ance of  grotesque  shapes,  the  expression  of  arrested  action,  give  to 
the  whole  place,  in  spite  of  its  glory  of  coloring,  spite  of  the  grandeur 
of  its  vistas  ending  in  snow-covered  peaks  only  six  miles  away,  spite 
of  its  friendly  and  familiar  cedars  and  pines,  spite  of  an  occasional 
fragrance  of  clematis,  or  smile  of  a  daisy,  or  twitter  of  a  sparrow,  - 
spite  of  all  these,  a  certain  uncanniness  of  atmosphere,  which  is  at 
first  oppressive.  I  doubt  if  one  ever  loved  the  Garden  of  the  Gods 
at  first  sight.  One  must  feel  his  way  to  its  beauty  and  rareness, 


FHE   GRANDMOTHER. 


102 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


must  learn  it  like  a  new  language ;  even  if  one  has  known   nature's 
tongues  well,  he  will  be  a  helpless  foreigner  here." 

We  quote  again  from  Dr.  Blake  :  — 

"  Strange,  grotesque  shapes,  mammoth  caricatures  of  animals, 
clamber,  or  crouch,  or  spring,  from  vantage  points  hundreds  of  feet 
in  air.  Here  a  battlemented  wall  is  pierced  by  a  round  window ; 
there  a  cluster  of  slender  spires  lift  themselves  ;  beyond,  a  leaning 
tower  slants  through  the  blue  air,  or  a  cube  as  large  as  a  dwelling- 
house  is  balanced  on  a  pivot-like  point  at  the  base,  as  if  a  child's 
strength  could  upset  it.  '  But  nothing  short  of  an  earthquake  could 
fetch  it,'  says  the  '  Doc,'  our  driver,  a  fine  specimen  of  the  western 
type,  keen,  cool  and  ruddy. 
Imagine  all  this  scintillant 
with  color,  set  under  a  daz- 
zling sapphire  dome,  with  the 
silver  stems  and  delicate 
frondage  of  young  cotton- 
woods  in  one  space,  a  strong 
young  hemlock  lifting  green 
symmetrical  arms  from  some 
high  rocky  cleft  in  another, 
or  a  miniature  forest  of 
dwarfed  evergreens  climbing 
half  way  up  some  craggy  pile. 
This  can  be  told,  but  the 
massiveness  of  sky-piled  ma- 
sonry, the  almost  infernal 

mixture  of  grandeur  and  gro-  BALANCE  ROCK 

tesqueness,  are   beyond  ex- 
pression.     After  the  first  few  moments  of  wild  exclamation  points 
one  sinks  into  an  awed  silence." 

Dr.  Blake  referred  to  a  rock  on  a  pivot,  probably  meaning  "  Bal- 
ance Rock,"  as  seen  in  the  cut.  It  is  a  huge  affair,  and  yet  appears 
to  be  so  delicately  balanced  that  a  child  might  rock  it.  On  trial, 
however,  it  is  found  to  be  immovable  —  a  very  ponderous  thing, 
defying  all  attempts  to  move  it.  Quite  an  exact  profile  of  "the 
human  face  divine  "  is  seen  on  one  side  of  this  rock — eyes,  nose,  and 
mouth  very  properly  adjusted,  while  the  chin  is  elongated  into  almost 
too  much  of  a  good  thing.  The  top  of  the  head  does  not  exactly 
tally  with  the  chart  of  the  phrenologist,  but  it  is  quite  in  harmony 
with  the  oddities  and  queer  objects  scattered  about. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  103 

Dr.  B.  F.  Taylor  expressed  himself  very  graphically  over*  the 
strange  and  fantastic  objects  in  this  garden,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Here  is  a  park  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  mountain-locked  on 
the  north  and  west,  moated  with  caflons  on-  the  south,  and  walled 
with  red  sandstone  on  the  east,  spread  with  grassy  carpets  here  and 
there,  and  dotted  with  little  pines  and  other  vegetable  stragglers. 
You  approach  a  gateway  two  hundred  feet  wide,  with  red  sandstone 
towers  over  three  hundred  feet  high,  covered  with  sculptures  that  no 
man  can  read,  and  massive  and  rugged  as  are  no  other  portals  in  the 
world. 

"  In  the  centre  of  the  way  is  a  red  pillar  twenty-five  feet  high, 
which  was  probably  the  horse-block  whence  the  Titonesses  stepped  to 
the  pillions  behind  their  lords  and  masters  when  they  went  their 
morning  rides.  You  can  see  the  walled-up  windows  whence  the  old 
warders  looked  forth.  You  can  see  escutcheons  that  no  herald  can 
make  out ;  chimneys  standing  alone ;  towers  dismantled ;  alcoves, 
broken  arches,  pinnacles,  castle  ruins,  and  all  red  as  porphyry.  And 
a  little  way  off  you  see  parallel  walls  that  are  marble  white,  and  show 
in  fine  contrast  with  the  cinnabar  tints  around. 

"  Not  long  ago  I  saw  photographs  of  the  ruins  of  Ba'albek,  and  I 
said,  A  greater  than  Ba'albek  is  here ;  these  Titanic  castles  and  for- 
tresses wrecked  and  ruined,  and  greater  in  their  destruction  than  the 
complete  architecture  of  the  Wrens  and  Walters  of  modern  times. 
Anybody  can  rear  castles  from  foundation  to  turret,  but  only  one 
architect  can  build  ruins  so  grand,  and  his  name  is  Upheaval. 

"Think  of  a  multitude  of  stone  toad-stools,  six,  ten,  twelve  feet  in 
diameter ;  of  Chinamen's  hats  done  in  pink,  yellow,  red,  with  mossy 
rosettes  ;  of  awkward  sun-bonnets  weighing  two  tons  apiece,  always 
slipping  off  and  never  falling  ;  of  stone  bowls,  big  as  cauldron  kettles, 
bottom  side  upon  pillars  ;  of  ogreish  heads  wrapped  about  with  gray 
turbans  ;  of  loaves  of  overdone  bread,  two  hundred  pounds  apiece, 
set  upon  the  rocks  to  cool ;  of  a  crop  of  capped  and  hooded  gateposts 
waiting  to  be  harvested  ;  of  petrified  dumb-bells  such  as  Jupiter 
•might  have  practised  with  before  throwing  his  thunderbolts;  of  a 
flock  of  witches  in  red  tatters  squatting  around  in  dumb  petrifaction  ; 
of  masses  of  rock  as  big  as  a  house  poised  upon  stones  the  size  of  a 
pumpkin  ;  of  whole  families  of  Leaning  Towers  —  no  end  of  Pisas  — 
accenting  everything  in  a  manner  more  emphatic  than  delightful ; 
think  of  all  these  at  once,  and  you  will  know  something  of  this  sand- 
stone nightmare." 


IO4 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Here  is  a  natural  curiosity  —  a  hole  in  the  rock,  through  which 
a  good  view  of  Pike's  Peak  may  be  enjoyed.  Dr.  Blake  calls  it 
"a  window  in  a  rock."  It  furnishes  an  interesting  study  for  geologi- 
cal explorers,  as  well  as  amusement  for  speculating  tourists.  Differ- 
ing as  it  does  from  the  other  marvels  of  the  garden  discussed,  it 
shows  that  the  collection  which  nature  has  made  in  this  locality  for 
the  entertainment  of  astonished  travellers  has  a  wide  range. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  action  of  water  in  forming  such  stone  mar- 
vels as  we  have  de- 
scribed. Prof.  J. 
T.  Edwards,  speak- 
ing of  "water  as  an 
architect,"  says : — 

"  In  the  divine 
hand  water  has 
been  used  as  the 
material  with 
which  to  shape  the 
earth,  even  as  a 
workman  employs 
his  files,  emery,  and 
diamond  dust  to 
shape  the  objects 
upon  which  he  la- 
bors. At  first  the 
earth  was  charac- 
terized by  one 
dead  level  —  a 
wide,  desolate,  fire- 
scarred  plain  ;  then 
the  mountains 
were  upheaved,  the 

depths  were  broken  up,  and,  no  longer  resting  in  their  quiet  beds, 
everywhere  rolled  down  the  slopes,  and  by  mere  attrition,  wore  away 
the  firm  rocks  and  bore  the  material  into  the  plains  below  ;  all  valleys 
have  thus  been  made.  Some  are  still  in  process  of  formation.  Far 
out  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Ganges  are  pouring  their  sediment  and  building  future  con- 
tinents. Sometimes,  where  the  volume  of  water  was  great,  or  the 
mountains  steep,  mighty  gorges  were  carved  out,  like  the  river-bed 
below  Niagara,  the  tremendous  cuts  of  the  Congo,  or  the  awful 


WINDOW  IN  A  ROCK. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


105 


canons  of  the  Colorado,  some  of  which  are  five  thousand  feet  in 
depth.  Ceaseless  waves  beat  upon  the  shore,  powdered  the  rocks, 
and  made  the  soft  beaches ;  tides  ebbed  and  flowed,  and  slowly 
wrought  their  changes.  In  addition  to  the  wearing  action  of  the 
water,  which  arises  from  the  smoothness  of  its  molecules,  and  the 


CATHEDRAL   SPIRES. 

slight  cohesion  of  its  particles,  thereby  causing  ceaseless  motion,  it 
possesses  a  wonderful  solvent  power.  Solution  arises  from  the  fact 
that  the  adhesion  between  a  liquid  and  a  solid  is  greater  than  the 
cohesion  between  the  molecules  of  the  solid  ;  whenever  this  is  the 
case,  the  latter  will  be  dissolved.  If  water  is  heated,  this  action  will 
be  intensified  ;  such  was  its  condition  in  the  early  geologic  ages,  and 
this  explains  the  extraordinary  rapidity  with  which  rocks  were  then 


106  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

dissolved.  Beautiful  grottoes  were  formed  like  that  of  Antiparos, 
vast  caverns,  such  as  those  along  the  coasts  of  Scotland,  the  Mam- 
moth Cave  of  Kentucky,  and  the  Wyandotte  of  Indiana.  It  is  a 
curious  paradox  which  appears  in  this  story  of  world-building,  that 
the  New  World  was  really  the  oldest  in  process  of  formation,  and 
that  the  tallest  mountains  were  the  latest  upheaved." 

"  Cathedral  Spires,"  like  the  cut  opposite,  are  found,  not  only  in 
the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  but  throughout  this  locality.  They  re- 
semble the  spires  of  churches  ;  hence  the  name. 

A  few  only  of  the  many  remarkable  and  curious  things  to  be  seen 
in  the  Garden  of  the  Gods  can  be  furnished  in  our  limited  space. 
Enough,  however,  are  furnished  to  show  that,  all  in  all,  the  place 
was  rightly  named.  From  the  point  of  entrance  to  that  of  exit,  the 
tourist  finds  it  difficult  to  dispel  the  thought  that  human  ingenuity 
has  gotten  up  this  remarkable  exhibition  of  statuary  and  architec- 
ture for  the  delight  of  travellers.  But  then  he  reflects  quickly  that 
DIVINE  ingenuity  will  beat  the  human  every  time ;  and  he  finds  that 
every  word  of  Colorado's  reliable  historian,  Frank  Fossett,  is  strictly 
verified :  — 

"The  Garden  of  the  Gods,  so  named  from  the  grotesque  and 
gigantic  rocks  of  red  and  white  sandstone  thrown  into  all  manner  of 
fantastic  shapes,  and  worn  by  the  elements,  constitutes  one  of  the 
State's  greatest  natural  wonders.  These  rocks  are  scattered  in  pic- 
turesque confusion  from  the  enormous  portal  of  the  enclosure  to  the 
lofty  crags  that  rise  on  either  hand.  Some  of  these  giant  pillars  and 
cathedral-shaped  towers  are  hundreds  of  feet  in  height,  and  altogether 
form  a  scene  at  once  weird  and  enchanting." 

MONUMENT  PARK. 

"Monument  Park,"  so-called,  in  its  location  and  general  features, 
belongs  to  the  class  of  wonders  under  consideration.  It  is  situated 
a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  and  is  annually 
visited  by  thousands  of  sight-seers.  While  it  is  not  invested  with  the 
interest  and  singularities  which  have  made  the  latter  place  so  re- 
nowned, it  nevertheless  has  much  in  common  with  that  museum  of 
marvels,  as  the  several  illustrations  we  furnish  abundantly  prove. 

These  monuments  are  from  five  or  six  feet  to  a  hundred  feet  in 
height,  and  are  numerous.  A  geologist  says  :  — 

"  They  belong  to  the  cretaceous  group  of  rocks.  They  consist  of 
columns  of  soft,  white  chalk  conglomerate,  capped  with  a  hard  ferru- 


MAR  I' ELS  OF  NATURE. 


107 


ginous  ore.  The  action  of  the  elements  for  the  countless  ages  of  the 
past  has  carved  out  these  monuments,  towers,  and  ruins  for  the  won- 
ders of  the  present  day." 

This  writer  claims  that  there  are  "no  greater  geological  wonders 
and   curiosities  on   the   continent "  than   Monument  Park  contains. 


On  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Ra;lway 


PARK. 


This  park  is  more  distinguished  for  monumental  piles  than  for  gro- 
tesque figures.  Speaking  of  the  latter  recalls  an  amusing  incident 
that  might  be  narrated  here  as  well  as  any  place.  A  tourist  was 
stopping  at  a  hotel  in  Colorado  Springs,  and  one  day  he  visited 
Austin's  Bluff,  a  few  miles  distant.  Near  that  place  he  discovered 
a  rock-rooster,  as  perfect,  he  thought,  as  a  sculptor  could  make ;  and 


io8 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 


he  bore  it  away  in  triumph,  congratulating  himself  upon  his  fortunate 
discovery.  On  reaching  the  hotel,  and  exhibiting  his  trophy,  he  was 
rather  dumbfounded  by  the  bit  of  information,  — 

"  Why,  that  is  private  property.  The  owner  set  it  up  by  the  way- 
side for  the  entertainment  of  travellers." 

"  Is  that  so  !  "  exclaimed  the  tourist.     "  Then  I  must  carry  it  back." 

"  Of  course  you  must.  Mr.  Austin's  gardener  put  the  roos- 
ter on  exhibition  there.  No  wonder  that  you  were  surprised 
to  find  so  good  an  imitation  of  a  rooster  in  stone  up  there." 

The  tourist  made 
haste  to  restore  the 
silent  rooster  to  his 
place  on  the  rocks  ; 
but  thereafter  he 
was  often  humor- 
ously reminded  of 
his  stone  trophy. 
The  traveller  just 
quoted  says :  — 

"Twelve  miles 
northward  of  Colo- 
rado Springs  is  a 
group  of  beautiful 
small  valleys  known 
as  Monument  Park, 
from  the  great  num- 
ber of  these  strange 
sandstone  rocks.  It 
is  the  liveliest  of  all 
lonely  places.  You 
drive  over  a  grassy 
road  in  the  middle 

of  a  narrow  green  meadow,  the  sides  of  which  slope  up  like  the 
sides  of  a  trough,  the  narrow  strip  of  meadow  ending  abruptly 
at  the  base  of  high  yellow  sandstone  cliffs,  covered  with  pines, 
firs,  and  low  oak  shrubs.  There  are  frequent  breaks  in  these  cliffs, 
and  passes  through  them  ;  and  so  crowded  are  these  passes  and  cliff- 
sides  with  the  yellow  stone  columns,  that  it  is  not  at  all  hard  to  fancy 
that  they  are  figures  winding  in  and  out  in  a  procession,  mounting 
guard,  lying  down,  sunning  themselves,  leading  or  embracing  each 
other.  Perverse  people,  with  fancies  of  a  realistic  order,  have  given 


GROUP  OF   MONUMENTS. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


ICX) 


names  to  many  of  these  figures  and  groups:  'The  Anvil,'  'The 
Quaker  Wedding,'  'Dunces'  Parliament/  'Priest  and  Nun,'  'The 
Duchess,'  etc.,  etc.  Photographers,  still  more  perverse,  have  per- 
sisted in  photographing  single  rocks,  or  isolated  groups,  with  nei- 
ther background  nor  foreground.  These  are  to  be  seen  everywhere, 
labelled,  '  Rocks  in  Monument  Park,'  and  are  admirably  calculated 
to  repel  people  from  going  to  what  would  be  some  bare,  outlying  pin- 
nacle of  the  universe,  on  which  imps  had  played  at  making  clay  fig- 
ures, with  high  stakes  for  the  ugliest.  A  true  picture  of  Monument 
Park  would  give  a  background  of  soft  yellow  and  white  sandstone 
cliffs,  rounded,  fluted,  and  grooved,  with  waving  pines  thick  on  the 
top,  and  scattering  down  the  sides,  and  the  statue-like  rocks  half  in 
and  half  out  among  the  trees  ;  and  to  make  the  picture  perfect,  it 
should  be  given  looking  west,  so  that  the  green  valley,  with  its  fan- 
tastic yellow  side  walls  and  statues  should  be  shut  across  at  the  fur- 
ther end  by  a  high  mountain  range,  dark  blue  against  a  shining  sky." 

This  monument  stands 
alone  in  the  midst  of  trees 
and  shrubs,  between  which 
there  exists  a  seeming  com- 
panionship. It  is  larger  at 
the  top  than  it  is  at  the 
base,  and  its  whole  appear- 
ance is  suggestive  of  a  sen- 
tinel ;  not  like  the  sentinel 
who  paces  over  his  beat, 
back  and  forth, 'in  monoto- 
nous measure,  but  rather 
like  the  Roman  sentinel 
who  stood  at  the  gate  of 
his  city,  where  he  was  found 
a  thousand  years  after  the 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  had 
buried  its  inhabitants  under 
molten  lava,  his  skeleton 
hand  still  grasping  the  gold- 
appearance  indicating  the 
Thus  it  has  stood,  no  one 


THE   SENTINEL. 


en  hilt  of  his  sword,  and  his  attitude  and 
faithful  sentinel.     So   stands  this  rock, 
but  God  can  tell  how  long. 

Perhaps  there  is  no   sample  of  natural  statuary  in  all  this  region 
more  remarkable  than  what  some  have  been  pleased  to  call  "The 


no 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Duchess."  Royal  as  well  as  delicate  in  appearance,  it  is  certainly  a  mar- 
vel of  the  highest  class,  inviting  not  only  admiration  but  study  as  well. 
The  reader  must  admit  that  no  traveller  quoted  has  been  extrava- 
gant in  his  description  of  the  Garden  of  the  Gods  and  Monument 
Park.  The  illustrations  furnished  are  quite  sufficient  to  show  that 
nature  has  provided  very  remarkable  collections  cf  natural  objects  in 
these  localities.  If  any  of  the  writers  have  allowed  the  imagination 
to  give  peculiar  coloring  to  their  descriptions,  it  has  been  only  the 
inspiration  of  the  place  and 
occasion.  He  must  possess 
an  exceeding  sluggish  soul 
who  could  mingle  in  such 
scenes  without  becoming 
enthusiastic.  If  accustomed 
to  make  pen-pictures,  he 
must  be  moved  to  make 
them  in  these  noted  resorts 
if  ever.  To  be  silent  before 
this  panorama  of  marvels, 
and  allow  the  pen  to  mope 
or  plod  where  nature  eclip- 
ses art,  and  a  thousand  voi- 
ces swell  the  praises  of 
Him  who  gives  tact  and  tal- 
ent to  both  painter  and 
sculptor,  would  be  unnatu- 
ral and  irreverent.  The  ap-  THE  DUCHESS. 
peal  is  to  all  the  powers  of 

the  soul ;  and  though  all  of  them  be  enlisted  to  describe  the  scenes 
enumerated,  exaggeration  is  impossible. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Shoshone  Falls  are  on  Snake  River,  in  the  Territory  of  Idaho. 
They  are  grand  to  the  last  degree.  Exaggeration  is  impossible  here. 
No  writer  can  really  do  them  justice.  The  granite  walls,  back  of  the 
roaring  falls,  rise  like  palaces,  mosques,  or  magnificent  fortifications. 
A  writer  who  visited  this  famous  waterfall  furnishes  a  graphic  de- 
scription, from  which  we  extract  the  following  :  — 

"  It  was  only  a  few  rods  of  easy  walking,  when,  piercing  a  border 
of  fir,  a  rest  was  taken  on  Point  Lookout.  Just  then  the  sun  broke 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


Ill 


112 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


forth  in  renewed  radiance,  and  from  cliff  to  cliff  there  sprang  a  bow 
as  perfect  as  ever  was  glorious  in  the  heavens,  — an  arc  of  beauteous 
coloring  against  a  background  of  glittering,  bead-like  foam,  tumbling  in 
crystal  chaos  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  circling  halo  lost  its 
bases  in  the  tumult  and  the  mist,  but  its  crescent  was  unbroken  above. 
"  Niagara  is  different,  but  is  not  superior.  Where  that  is  calm, 
Shoshone  is  tempestuous.  Where  that  pours  over  evenly,  Shoshone 
bursts  into  a  million  wild  jets,  each  with  a  diamond's  lustre.  Where 
that  is  environed  by  commonplace  landscape,  Shoshone  dashes  from 
between  rocks,  stately  and  time-stained,  and  nearly  a  thousand  feet 
high.  From  Point  Lookout  the  view  is  unobstructed,  not  only  of 


SAN  PEDRO'S  WIFE:    OR,  THE  WOMAN  OF  THE  PERIOD 

the  falls,  but  farther  back,  where  the  boat  has  often  crossed.  Seven 
distinct  channels  are  to  be  seen,  forming  a  number  of  preliminary 
falls,  before,  finally  there  is  a  grand  reunion  of  the  waters :  and  so 
united,  over  they  go  to  be  lost  in  the  rage  of  a  terrible  surge,  to  riot 
in  an  infuriate  whirlpool,  and  to  rise  soft  as  the  feather  of  a  bird,  and 
be  touched  by  the  sun  to  splendor,  and  fall  like  a  blessing  of  nature 
on  the  brow  of  the  awed  beholder.  .  .  . 

"Think  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  front  of  a  maddened — it 
almost  seems  malignant  —  torrent,  devilish  in  the  delight  it  takes  in 
sweeping  with  a  rush  nothing  but  the  eternal  rocks  could  withstand ; 
torn  and  tossed  into  billions  of  sparkling  threads,  with  a  constant 
play  of  prismatic  hues,  changing  quicker  than  thought,  half  envel- 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  IIJ 

oped  in  its  own  mist,  and  then  the  wind  carrying  that  away,  leav- 
ing it  unobscured  in  sublimity,  unmatched  and  indescribable.  Long 
the  eye  drinks  here  of  the  vials  of  wonder ;  and  after  the  sight 
has  become  a  memory,  still  the  voice  of  the  Great  Unknown  will 
seem  to  break  in  again  upon  the  soul,  just  as  it  does  when  the  uproar 
is  deafening,  and,  by  its  very  presence,  turns  one  towards  better  and 
stronger  things." 

"  San  Pedro's  Wife ;  or,  The  Woman  of  the  Period,"  is  a  nat- 
ural statue,  and  is  situated  near  San  Pedro  Point,  about  three 
hundred  miles  from  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  remarkable  object,  and  the 
name  with  which  it  has  been  christened  is  quite  appropriate.  Were 
a  light  to  be  set  on  the  head  of  this  stone  woman,  it  would  become 
the  most  unique  and  fantastic  lighthouse  ever  known.  It  seems  like 
a  hint,  in  itself,  to  our  enterprising  race,  to  complete  the  work  of  na- 
ture by  adding  an  uplifted  arm,  holding  a  flaming  torch  in  the  hand, 
that  its  flashing  light  may  prove  a  benediction  to  unwary  steps  or 
belated  vessels.  From  head  to  feet  this  singular  rock-formation 
reflects  much  credit  upon  the  elements  which  have  done  so  excellent 
carving. 

"  Donner  Lake,"  as  shown  on  the  following  page,  is  situated  on 
the  summit  of  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  eight  or  ten  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is  a  wonderfully  clear  and  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  very  deep  and  still,  and  is  called,  "  The  Gem  of  the 
Sierras."  Located  on  a  mountain-summit  is  sufficient  of  itself  to 
invest  the  lake  with  novelty  and  romance.  Such  a  phenomenon  is 
confined  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  is  therefore  rare. 

The  name  of  the  lake,  however,  is  derived  from  an  appalling 
calamity  which  occurred  upon  its  borders  in  1846.  A  family  by  the 
name  of  Donner  was  crossing  the  Sierras  when  the  first  snow-storm 
of  winter  burst  upon  them.  The  family  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Donner  and  four,  children,  with  several  servants,  who  assisted  to  drive 
a  small  herd  of  cattle.  They  had  reached  the  lake,  and  had  camped 
for  the  night,  when  a  wild  storm,  such  as  that  mountain  region  alone 
knows,  struck  them  in  its  fury.  On  the  following  morning  two  feet 
of  snow  covered  the  trail,  and  the  unabated  storm  continued  to  add 
rapidly  to  its  depth.  Mr.  Donner  was  too  unwell  to  go  forward,  but 
he  put  the  children  upon  the  horses,  and  started  them  off  under  the 
care  of  servants,  hoping  they  might  cross  the  mountains  in  safety. 
Mr.  Donner's  wife  and  a  German  servant  remained  with  him.  Most  of 
the  cattle  stampeded  during  the  night,  terrified  by  the  howling  storm. 

To  make  a  long  and  appalling  story  short,  it  must  suffice  to  say 


114  MARVELS   OE   THE  NEW   WEST. 

that  the  storm  continued  fifteen  or  twenty  days,  until  thirty  feet  of 
snow  covered  the  vast  wilderness.     The  children,  however,  under  the 


guide  and  protection  of  the  brave  servants,  succeeded  in  crossing  the 
mountains  after  hardships  and  much  suffering,  and  reached  comforta- 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


ble  quarters.  But  a  searching  party  did  not  dare  to  penetrate  to  the 
lake  until  spring  returned  ;  and  when  they  reached  the  rudely  con- 
structed cabin,  a  terrible  sight  met  them.  Mr.  Donner  and  his  wife 
were  dead,  and  the  German,  now  a  raving  maniac,  sat  before  the  fire 
devouring  a  wasted 
human  arm.  He  was 
seized,  and,  after  a 
fearful  struggle,  was 
secured  ;  and  he  final- 
ly recovered  to  tell 
the  story  of  that  win- 
ter's sufferings,  al- 
most without  a  paral- 
lel in  history. 

The  Multnomah 
Falls  is  one  of  the 
marvels  that  delight 
the  traveller  after 
leaving  Bqnneville. 
Its  water  plunges 
down  eight  hundred 
feet,  the  same  dis- 
tance as  the  Oneonta 
Falls  in  the  same  vi- 
cinity. The  Multno- 
mah water  strikes  a 
ledge  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  distance 
down,  then,  gather- 
ing itself  up,  it  makes 
another  plunge  into 
the  abyss  below. 

Scarcely  any  scene 
could  be  more  novel 
and  beautiful  than 
this.  In  the  distance 

the  falling  sheet  of  water  appears  like  a  wide  silver  ribbon   spark- 
ling  in  the  sun. 

The  Pillars  of  Hercules  are  found  on  the  Columbia  River,  a  few 
miles  from  Multnomah  Falls  —  another  of  the  many  marvels  on  the 
northern  route  to  the  Pacific  slope.  They  are  colossal,  and  the 


MULTNOMAH    FALLS. 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


PILLARS  OF  HERCULES. 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad  passes  directly  between  them.     These  pil- 
lars awaken  the  wonder  of  men.     A  writer  says  :  — 

"  How  God's  hand  built  them,  —  not  in  a  manner  of  slow-mounting 
masonry,  gaining  adventurously  and  toilsomely,  foot  by  foot,  and 
pushing  its  scaffolding  ever  higher  to  keep  command  of  the  work, 
and  straining  its  energy  to  raising  aloft  the  chiselled  and  ponderous 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


117 


Il8  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

blocks  to  their  place,  —  but  with  one  lift,  without  break  or  course,  or 
any  gradations  of  rising  completeness,  the  Supreme  Builder  set  the 
domed  mountains  in  their  place  —  foundation,  wall,  and  top  stone  — 
one  sublime  integral  whole.,  unprofaned  by  craftsman's  tools,  untrod 
by  foot  of  man." 

Pyramid  Park  is  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and 
its  name  is  derived  from  the  interesting  rock  formations  therein. 
Professor  Denton  says  :  "  Such  a  valley  containing  myriads  of  mounds, 
buttes,  pyramids,  pinnacles,  forts,  and  turrets.  Here  are  cafions, 
ravines,  gulches,  and  perpendicular  precipices  ;  pyramids  with  brown 
and  blue  bases,  and  vermilion  tops  ;  towers  with  unscalable  walls  that 
defy  the  earth-ransacking  geologist  —  mounds  of  all  sizes  from  ant 
hills  to  respectable  mountains  ;  mounds  single,  twin,  triple,  and-  mul- 
tiple ;  mounds  with  yellow  bases,  white  girdles,  and  blood-red  caps ; 
mounds  green,  drab,  white,  blue,  red,  and  mottled  ;  truncated  mounds 
with  mounds  on  them  ;  mounds  beyond  mounds  like  ocean  waves  lost 
in  distance ;  but  interspersed  with  all  these  are  beautiful  slopes  many 
acres  in  extent,  green  as  emerald,  and  lovely  spots  covered  with 
fragrant  ground  juniper,  fit  carpet  for  a  queen."  Another  says  :  — 

"  It  is  in  Pyramid  Park  that  the  most  fantastic  shapes  appear. 
Every  form  of  man  or  beast  the  broad  empire  of  Rome  could  furnish, 
is  here  carved  by  the  elements  and  placed  in  one  long  gallery,  of  art. 
Monuments,  cathedrals,  pyramids,  cones,  and  houses  appear  like 
excavations  of  a  buried  city.  .  .  .  As  the  train  rolls  swiftly  through 
the  park,  we  give  our  imagination  full  play,  and  find  shapes  the  most 
grotesque  and  ludicrous,  combined  with  others  of  imposing  form, 
presenting  a  combination  of  which  we  never  tire." 

On  the  left  of  the  illustration  is  a  mammoth  rock  rising  two  or 
three  hundred  feet,  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  large  cathedral. 
The  resemblance  is  so  striking  that  it  is  called  "The  Cathedral." 
On  a  line  with  the  Cathedral  to  the  right  are  "  Monument  Rocks  "  of 
various  heights.  Below  is  a  rock  formation  which  a  tourist  has  very 
properly  named  "The  Hag."  It  is  worthy  of  the  name,  as  the  reader 
will  find  by  a  little  study.  At  the  left  is  "Watch  Dog  Butte,"  a 
lofty  eminence  on  which  nature  has  perched  what  appears  to  be  a 
real  terrier. 

The  illustration  on  the  following  page  is  that  of  a  remarkable  butte 
overlooking  Green  River  City.  It  is  built  up  of  solid  masonry,  such 
as  nature  provides,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  massive  monumental  pile, 
resembling  a  public  edifice  of  some  sort.  In  its  proportions,  as  well 
as  its  plan,  it  is  unique  and  imposing.  It  stands  sentinel  over  the 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


119 


little  city  which  nestles  under  its  shadow,  between  its  base  and  the 
river.  Altogether,  this  butte  and  its  surroundings  presents  a  scene 
which,  in  some  particulars,  can  scarcely  be  matched  in  the  whole 


12O 


MARl'ELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


land.     The  artist  could  not  pass  it  without  stopping  to  make  a  faith- 
ful  sketch. 


"Wagon  Wheel  Gap"  is  located  in  Southwestern  Colorado,  on 
the  Rio  Grande  Del  Norte,  twenty-nine  miles  west  of  Del  Norte,  and 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


121 


122 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


sixty-nine  from  Alimosa.  It  is  in  a  chasm  of  the  mountain  range, 
which  extends  a  hundred  miles  north  and  south,  a  gateway  cut  by 
rushing  waters  sometime  in  the  past  centuries,  with  vertical  cliffs 
shooting  upwards  from  five  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  feet.  The  place 
is  called  "  Wagon  Wheel  Gap  "  in  consequence  of  decaying  wheels 

and  other  trumpery 
found  there  by  pioneers 
a  few  years  since.  At 
first,  it  was  supposed 
the  relics  discovered 
were  all  that  remained 
of  an  exploring  party 
massacred  by  Indians. 
It  was  subsequently 
found,  however,  that 
Fremont  wintered  there 
once  in  his  explorations, 
and  was  obliged  to  aban- 
don his  wagons  and  most 
of  his  outfit  to  save  his 
party  from  starvation 
and  death. 

The  illustration  on 
the  preceding  page  rep- 
resents the  scene  that 
opens  to  the  tourist  as 
the  railway  train,  which 
follows  along  the  river, 
moves  into  the  gap  and 
up  to  the  station.  On 
the  right  hand,  the  pali- 
sades or  mountains  of 
rock  rise  from  twelve 
hundred  to  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  track,  continuing  their  wavy  line  of  unsurpassed 
grandeur  for  several  miles.  These  stupendous  walls  are  of  reddish 
gray  sandstone,  with  only  room  enough  at  their  base  for  the  river  and 
railway.  On  the  left  hand  of  the  track,  the  mountains  rise  over 
twenty-three  hundred  feet  in  solemn  majesty  above  the  track.  The 
whole  scene  is  one  of  unparalleled  majesty.  The  beholder  alone 
can  fully  appreciate  it. 


RHODA'S    ARCH. 
Sawatch  Range,  South  River,  near  Antelope  Park. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


123 


Castellated  Rocks  rise  several  hundred  feet  along  the  banks  of 
the  river,  and  extend  for  miles.  They  present  one  of  the  grand- 
est spectacles  which  the  tourist  enjoys  in  the  New  West.  They 
are  called  "The  Green  River  Shales,"  and  their  prevailing  color  is 
a  grayish  buff.  Other  colors,  as  red,  green,  and  white,  mingle  here 
and  there,  contributing  beauty  to  the  imposing  scene.  Like  huge 
walls  of  granite,  laid  block  upon  block  in  symmetrical  proportions 
until  they  tower  higher  than  the  tallest  church  spire  in  the  land, 
these  castellated  rocks  challenge  the  surprise  and  wonder  of  men. 

Rhoda's  Arch  is  symmetrical  and  finished  as  if  planned  and 
wrought  by  human  skill.  Its  surroundings  are  peculiarly  impressive. 


GRAND    COULEE,    W.  T 

Stone  monuments  stand  around,  some  tall  and  capped,  others  rising 
in  sharp  pinnacles  —  all  seeming  to  belong  to  the  same  class  of 
wonders  as  the  arch  itself.  It  is  a  rare  spectacle,  one  of  the  novel 
scenes  that  will  live  in  memory. 

There  is  no  greater  marvel  in  Washington  Territory  than  the 
"  Grand  Coulee,"  represented  above.  It  has  been  called  a  "  deep  crack 
in  the  surface  of  the  earth  "  ;  but  we  shall  call  it  a  canon  ninety  miles 
long,  with  basaltic  walls  rising  perpendicularly  four  hundred  feet, 
higher  than  Bunker  Hill  Monument.  It  is  a  spectacle  which  never 
loses  its  hold  upon  the  memory. 

About  half-way  through  the  valley  the  walls  are  broken  down,  so 


124 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


125 


that  wagons  can  pass  over  it  comfortably.  "  From  this  crossing  the 
Coulee  slopes  both  ways,  north  to  its  mouth  in  the  gorge  of  the 
Columbia,  and  southeast  to  broaden  out  and  encircle  a  chain  of  lakes, 
and  finally  to  disappear  in  the  great  sandy  plain  near  the  junction 
of  the  Snake  and  Columbia  rivers."  This  canon  is  strewn  with 
volcanic  debris,  imparting  to  it  a  very  weird  and  desolate,  appear- 
ance. 

"The  Valley  of  the  Laughing  Waters,"  in  Utah,  contains  scenes  of 
picturesque  beauty  and  awe-inspiring  grandeur  unsurpassed  in  the 

world.  The  full-page  il- 
lustration represents  a 
rocky  region  where 
some  of  the  most  re- 
markable feats  of  na- 
ture are  found.  Rocks 
of  fantastic  forms,  often 
massive  and  phenome- 
nal, meet  the  eye  on 
every  hand.  Perhaps 
there  are  no  objects 
in  Yosemite  grander 
than  many  to  be  seen 
in  this  locality.  It  has 
not  the  beautiful  and 
grand  waterfalls  of  the 
Yosemite,  but  in  other 
particulars  it  is  a  wor- 
thy rival  of  that  world- 
renowned  "Wonder- 
land." Towers  and 
pinnacles  of  rock  rise 
into  the  air  like  the 

INDIAN  ROCK. 

spires  and  turrets  of  an 

Eastern  city,  and  majestic  cliffs  challenge  the  admiration  and  wonder 
of  travellers  at  every  step. 

The  "  Church,  Castle  and  Tower  "  is  on  the  Missouri  River,  Mon- 
tana, and  derives  its  name  from  the  remarkable  rock-formations  on 
the  sides  of  the  mountains.  On  the  left  stands  the  stone  church,  sit- 
uated on  a  lofty  eminence,  with  spire  and  turrets  of  more  symmetrical 
proportions  than  those  of  many  church  edifices  reared  by  art.  On 
the  right,  as  well  as  in  the  centre,  are  massive  structures,  having  the 


126 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


127 


appearance  of  natural  fortresses,  built,  or  rather  grown,  in  mountain 
fastnesses,  impregnable  and  wonderful. 

"  Indian  Rock  "  is  situated  on  an  island  in  Columbia  River,  four 
miles  from  Celilo.  Its  name  is  derived  from  the  profile  of  an  Indian 
face,  so  conspicuous  on  its  wall.  From  time  immemorial  the  Indians 
have  worshipped  the  profile,  and  have  called  it  "  The  Great  Spirit  of 
the  Columbia."  It  can  be  seen  from  the  deck  of  a  steamer  passing 
through  the  old  channel  on  the  southwest,  and  also  by  the  use  of  a 


OLD  WOMAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

glass  from  the  line  of  the  O.  R.  &  N.  Co.,  two  miles  below.  It  is 
difficult  to  approach  the  island  on  account  of  the  rapid  current,  which 
fact  adds  to  the  superstitious  notions  of  the  Indians,  who  were  wont  to 
risk  their  lives  once  a  year  to  worship  the  Indian  face  on  the  rock. 
None  of  them  ever  ventured  to  live  upon  the  island.  The  rock  is  a 
basaltic  ridge,  extending  five  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  rising  high 
into  the  air. 

The  above  scene  is  located  in  Montana,  near  Helena.  The 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  runs  near  by,  although  the  "Old  Woman" 
in  granite  cannot  be  seen  from  the  train.  It  is  one  of  the  grandest 
localities  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  near  where  the  tortuous 


128  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

railway  descends  into  the  valley  below.  The  whole  region  is  crowded 
with  objects  of  interest,  none  more  so  than  the  singular  rock-forma- 
tions of  which  the  "  Old  Woman  "  is  one.  The  reader  will  agree 
with  us  that  this  rock  was  correctly  named,  its  form  showing  a  very 
striking  resemblance  to  an  aged  female. 

We  interject  the  statement  here,  that,  in  addition  to  the  class  of 
marvels  considered,  the  rock-formations  of  the  New  West  are  truly 
remarkable.  For  instance,  west  of  Pueblo,  in  Colorado,  along  the 
Arkansas  River,  there  are  miles  and  miles  of  wall  from  four  and  five 
to  fifteen  feet  high,  just  as  nature  laid  it,  much  of  it  as  symmetrical 
and  finished  as  skilled  labor  can  produce.  It  is  seen  in  the  distance 
often,  enclosing  the  summits  of  hills  like  the  walls  of  a  penitentiary 
or  navy  yard.  Again,  it  extends  for  miles  along  the  river,  as  if  it 
were  the  boundary-wall  of  a  grand  park,  or  the  guarded  grounds  of 
an  agricultural  society.  Here  and  there  the  rocks  assume  the  ap- 
pearance of  fortifications,  cathedrals,  battlements,  and  towers.  The 
whole  appearance  is  that  of  solid  masonry,  such  as  we  expect  of 
human  industry  and  skill.  Let  the  pen  of  another  confirm  our 
description. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Blake,  speaking  from  personal  observation,  says :  "  Be- 
yond Pueblo,  the  Arkansas  widens  into  a  rather  sluggish,  muddy 
stream,  pretty  in  nothing  except  its  windings,  and  the  delicate  fresh- 
ness of  cottonwoods  here  and  there  on  its  banks,  which  are  always 
newly  lovely  to  us.  It  has,  besides,  for  many  miles,  a  fringe  of  forti- 
fications in  wonderful  perfection  ;  some  in  perfect  cap-a-pie  fighting 
order,  some  ruined  and  broken,  but  altogether  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque and  complete  pieces  of  nature's  workmanship  we  have  met 
yet.  It  seems  utterly  impossible  to  believe  that  the  walls  and  battle- 
ments, which  appear  of  such  solid  masonry,  should  not  have  been 
laid  with  hands,  or  that  the  eye  of  some  human  architect  did  not 
direct  the  soaring  grace  of  those  lofty  towers,  or  the  solemn  strength 
of  these  long  lines  of  ramparts." 

The  picture  on  page  129  illustrates  the  variety  of  form  which  the 
stones  of  these  walls  present. 

In  one  of  the  thriving  cities  of  Kansas  we  saw  a  stone  dwelling, 
built  of  granite  blocks  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  long  and  half 
as  thick  and  wide,  more  or  less,  just  as  they  were  dug  from  the  earth. 
Until  otherwise  informed  we  supposed  that  the  stones  were  hewn 
and  hammered  for  the  habitation.  Yet  these  blocks  of  stone  were 
dug  from  the  surface  of  the  earth,  two  or  three  miles  away,  where, 
subsequently,  we  saw  them  by  the  acre.  Those  of  kindred  size  and 


MARVELS   OF  NATURE. 


129 


form  were  selected  for  the  building  ;  hence  they  appeared  to  have 
been  cut  by  one  pattern.  Near  by  was  a  handsome  face-wall,  a 
portion  of  it  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  built  in  the  same  way,  not  one 
block  in  the  wall  hewn  or  hammered. 

In  the  same  city,  also,  the  flag-stones  are  quarried  seven  miles 
away,  and  laid  on  the  sidewalks  with  no  labor  expended  upon  them 
except  to  cut  them  the  required  width.  We  saw  one  slab  sixteen 
feet  long  by  five  feet  and  a  half  wide,  smooth  enough  for  the  side- 


' 


FORMS   OF  WALLS. 


walk  without  one  stroke  of  a  hammer.  We  have  not  seen  nicer 
sidewalks  in  any  city,  and  yet  the  stones  were  laid  just  as  nature 
furnished  them,  after  cutting  them  the  necessary  width.  We  sug- 
gested to  one  of  the  authorities  that  the  next  desirable  acquisition 
for  the  town  was  a  quarry  that  would  turn  out  hitching-posts  all 
ready  for  setting.  The  citizens  were  then  engaged  in  a  search  for 
natural  gas,  with  which  to  light  and  heat  the  city.  Their  expecta- 
tions once  realized,  and  the  New  West  will  boast  of  a  city  run  by 
nature  —  a  marvel  indeed  ! 

The  following  cut  represents  Chicago  Lakes,  the  principal  and  high- 


130  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

est  one  being  eleven  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  —  the  highest  body  of  water  on  the  American  continent.  The 
mountains  rise  three  thousand  feet  above  the  lake.  It  was  here  that 
the  celebrated  painter  Bierstadt  found  the  subject  for  his  great  paint- 
ing, "  A  Storm  in  the  Rockies."  The  highest  of  this  group  of  lakes  is 
about  one  thousand  five  hundred  feet  higher  than  Green  Lake,  in  the 


FISHING  ON  THE  MOUNTAINS 


same  vicinity,  two  miles  from  Georgetown.  The  latter  has  become  a  fa- 
mous resort  for  pleasure-seekers,  where  trout-fishing  is  exceptionally 
good,  in  waters  so  deep  that,  in  places,  they  have  never  been  sounded. 
There  is  peculiar  novelty  in  going  a-fishing  up  towards  the  sky 
instead  of  in  the  other  direction.  To  catch  trout  in  a  lake  situated 
twice  as  high  as  the  summit  of  Mount  Washington,  is  a  pastime  not 
afforded  to  sportsmen  in  many  lands.  It  is  one  of  the  "patent 
rights "  of  the  New  West. 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE.  131 

Chicago  Lakes  are  reached  by  good  trails  from  Fall  River,  about 
three  miles  above  Idaho  Springs.  The  route  is  romantic  with  wild 
and  impressive  scenery,  rewarding  the  tourist- at  every  step  with 
grand  and  unusual  sights. 

Another  of  the  curiosities  of  the  New  West  is  the  petrified  forest. 
Mr.  Cozzens  describes  one  which  he  saw  in  Arizona,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Little  Bonita,  just  after  the  Apache  Indians  had  made  a  raid 
upon  his  party,  and  robbed  Dr.  Parker  of  his  horse. 


PETRIFIED  FOREST. 


"  Here  we  came  upon  the  remains  of  a  petrified  forest,  prostrate, 
and  partially  buried  in  a  kind  of  red  mud.  Hundreds  of  trees  lay 
here,  and  had  been  converted  by  some  chemical  process  into  speci- 
mens of  variegated  jasper.  One  tree  that  we  saw  measured  ten  feet 
in  diameter,  and  was  over  a  hundred  feet  in  length.  Some  looked  as 
if  they  had  been  charred  by  fire ;  their  trunks  were  of  a  dark  brown 
color,  while  the  smaller  branches  and  twigs  were  of  a  reddish  hue. 
To  me  there  was  something  impressively  wonderful  in  the  stupendous 
result  of  old  Nature's  labors  in  her  secret  laboratory.  Who  should 


132 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


derive  the  cause  ?  Who  tell  the  history  of  the  prostrate  forest  ?  How 
long  has  it  there  existed,  and  how  many  more  centuries  will  it  be 
there  undisturbed  ? 

"  We  brought  away  some  beautiful  specimens,  although,  owing  to 
the  depredations  of  our  Apache  friends,  we  were  somewhat  short  of 
means  of  transportation.  We  found  the  waters  of  the  creek  de- 


SUMMIT  OF   ITALIAN   MOUNTAIN. 


lightfully  cool  and  pleasant  to  the  taste  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  sug- 
gestion of  one  of  the  party,  that  it  might  have  the  same  effect  upon 
us  that  it  had  evidently  had  upon  the  giants  of  the  forest  lying  around 
us,  we  all  drank  of  it  freely,  and  enjoyed  its  refreshing  coolness. 
Dr.  Parker  feelingly  alluded  to  the  loss  of  his  horse,  and  the  miseries 
of  a  pedestrian  life  through  such  a  rough  country,  and  urged  us,  in 


MARVELS  OF  NATURE. 


'33 


case  we  should  observe  any  appearance  of  petrifaction  about  him,  not 
to  leave  him  by  the  roadside,  for  the  purpose  of  petrifying  the  travel- 
ler who  came  after  us,  but  to  give  him  Christian  burial ;  and  that  for 
a  headstone  we  should  use  a  piece  of  the  rock  on  which  he  split, 
with  this  inscription  thereon  :  '  Horseless  and  homeless  a  wanderer 
passed.' ' 

The  Italian  Mountain  is  in  Gunnison  County,  Colorado,  and  its 
summit,  as  seen  in  the  cut,  is  13,255  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Tourists  can  reach 
the  summit  with 
comparative  ease. 
Pike's  Peak  is  less 
than  a  thousand 
feet  higher  than 
this  mountain,  and 
scarcely  affords  a 
better  view  to  the 
traveller  who  per- 
severes in  his  ef- 
fort to  plant  his 
feet  upon  its 
crown.  It  is  of 
singular  formation, 
as  the  illustration 
shows,  and  pre- 
sents to  the  stu- 
dent of  geology  a 
fruitful  subject  for 
investigation. 

The  cactus  of 
the  Gila  Desert, 
Arizona,  is  a  natu- 
ral phenomenon. 
To  those  who  are 
accustomed  to  see 
a  cactus  in  a  flow- 
er-pot a  few  inches 

high,  these  Cacti  Giganti  of  the  New  West  must  appear  mar- 
vellous indeed.  Some  of  them  are  sixty  feet  high.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  the  different  forms  of  growth  ;  though  many  are  a  perfect 
'cone,  from  twenty  to  sixty  feet  high,  with  a  diameter  of  three  feet 


134  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

near  the  ground.  Their  color  is  of  different  shades  of  green  and  yel- 
low ;  and  they  are  covered  with  sharp  thorns,  some  of  them  three 
inches  in  length.  Each  cone-cactus  bears  a  single  flower  on  its  top 
annually,  and  yields  a  kind  of  fruit  which  the  natives  highly  prize. 

Many  of  the  huge  cones  have  several  smaller  ones  growing  out  of 
their  trunks,  at  different  heights,  and  they  shoot  upwards,  parallel  to 
the  trunks  that  bear  them.  There  is  no  tree  or  shrub  around  them 
over  three  feet  high,  so  that  they  stand  out  in  bold  relief  over  the 
barren  waste. 

Woodpeckers  are  plenty  as  rattlesnakes  and  lizards  in  this  desert 
country,  and  the  former  elude  the  destructive  instincts  of  the  latter 
by  pecking  holes  in  the  cactus  near  its  top,  where  they  build  their 
nests  and  rear  their  young  in  safety. 

Captain  Button,  of  the  United  States  Survey,  says  :  — 

"  Many  species  of  cactus  are  seen,  the  most  abundant  of  which 
are  the  opuntias,  or  prickly-pears.  Of  these  there  are  four  or  five 
very  common  species.  A  large  cactus  orchard  in  blossom  is  a  very 
beautiful  sight,  displaying  flowers  which,  for  beauty  of  form  and  rich- 
ness of  color,  are  seldom  surpassed  by  the  choicer  gems  of  the  con- 
servatory. Nor  is  it  less  attractive  when  in  the  fruit ;  for  it  yields 
a  multitude  of  purple  'pears,'  which  are  very  juicy  and  refreshing, 
and  by  no  means  contemptible  in  flavor." 


II.     MARVELS   OF  RACE. 

((  T  TOW   strange  that  the  newest  part  of  our  country  should  turn 

LL  out  to  be  the  oldest,"  remarked  a  citizen  of  Las  Vegas,  New 
Mexico. 

"  How  so  ? "  we  responded,  not  quite  apprehending  his  meaning. 

"  Well,  our  country  west  of  the  Missouri  River  is  called  the  '  New 
West,'  he  replied  ;  "but  it  is  much  older  than  New  England.  Long 
before  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock,  this  part  of  our  land 
was  inhabited  by  an  intelligent,  enterprising  people." 

"Very  true,"  we  answered;  "but  they  passed  away,  and  left  the 
Indian  and  buffalo  in  full  possession.  Their  ruins  are  the  only  evi- 
dence you  have  of  their  having  lived  here." 

"And  that  is  evidence  enough,"  he  quickly  responded.  "In  some 
respects  it  is  the  most  interesting  kind  of  evidence.  A  certain  mys- 
tery invests  their  history,  adding  to,  instead  of  subtracting  from,  its 
fascination." 

The  speaker  was  right.  The  history  of  the  ancient  races  which 
dwelt  centuries  ago  in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  other 
portions  of  the  New  West,  has  come  to  the  front.  Archaeologists, 
ethnologists,  historians,  and  other  scholars,  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe,  have  become  deeply  interested  in  these  ancient  peoples. 
Who  were  they  ?  Whence  did  they  come  ?  Whither  did  they  go  ? 
Were  they  Toltecs  ?  Were  they  Aztecs  ?  Were  they  related  to  the 
Pueblo  Indians,  still  occupying  a  portion  of  our  Western  domain  ? 
Were  they  connected  with  the  Mound-Builders  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  or  with  those  of  Ohio  or  Indiana  ?  Do  the  remains  of  human 
races  scattered  over  the  Old  and  New  West  indicate  a  unity  of  origin 
of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  North  America  ?  These  questions 
indicate  the  depth  of  mystery  to  be  sounded  before  a  satisfactory 
solution  of  the  problem  is  reached.  That  the  problem  will  be  solved 
there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  In  addition  to  the  large  number 
of  scholars  investigating  the  subject  on  their  own  account,  the 
United  States  Government  is  pushing  exploration  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible. The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  history  of  these  races 


136  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

will  be  a  matter  of  authentic  record.  Until  then  we  must  content 
ourselves  with  the  meagre  amount  of  knowledge  in  our  possession ; 
which,  however,  is  quite  sufficient  to  awaken  the  lively  interest  of  the 
general  reader. 

Without  question,  Columbus  supposed  he  had  discovered  a  "  new 
world  "  when  he  set  his  foot  upon  this  western  shore ;  and  it  was  a 
"new  world"  to  him;  but  it  was  old  to  the  races  which  had  lived 
upon  it  for  centuries  before  he  came.  It  is  new  to  us,  also,  because 
we  never  knew,  until  recently,  that  such  races  ever  dwelt  within  its 
borders.  The  disclosure  of  the  fact  was  a  great  surprise.  At  first  it 
was  received  with  many  grains  of  allowance.  •  The  most  credulous  were 
not  inclined  to  accept  the  announcement  without  undoubted  proof. 
But  the  study  and  researches  of  the  past  decade  have  dissipated  all 
lingering  doubts.  More  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  subject 
within  fifteen  years  than  during  the  previous  five  centuries.  The 
year  1900  will  possess  so  much  light  and  knowledge  relating  thereto, 
according  to  present  indications,  that  the  history  of  the  ancient  races 
of  the  New  West  will  be  well  understood. 

Not  many  years  after  Columbus  discovered  the  "New  World," 
strange  rumors  reached  the  authorities  of  Spain  in  regard  to  popu- 
lous towns  and  cities  on  its  western  borders.  The  "  Seven  Cities  of 
Cibola,"  magnificent  and  rich,  were  said  to  be  founded  there,  inhab- 
ited by  an  intelligent  and  enterprising  people.  It  was  a  land  of  gold, 
also.  The  earth  was  full  of  precious  metals,  which  the  people  mined 
at  their  leisure.  These  exciting  rumors  appealed  to  the  Spaniards' 
love  of  gold  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  had  more  or  less  influ- 
ence in  organizing  the  exploring  expedition  of  1527,  by  order  of  the 
king,  commanded  by  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez,  to  invade  the  country 
which  rumor  made  so  populous  and  rich.  This  exploring  party  per- 
ished by  shipwreck,  except  Alvar  Nuftez  Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  three 
companions.  Ten  years  Vaca  and  his  companions  traversed  portions 
of  the  New  West,  exploring  the  entire  territories  of  New  Mexico, 
Arizona,  and  Utah,  and  perhaps  pushing  into  Colorado  before  enter- 
ing Mexico.  They  found  large  cities  "made  of  earth,"  inhabited  by 
a  peaceful  and  interesting  race,  worshippers  of  the  sun,  who  brought 
their  blind  and  sick  to  the  white  men  to  be  healed.  They  found  evi- 
dence of  immense  wealth,  inexhaustible  mines  of  gold  and  silver, 
enough  to  satisfy  even  the  greed  of  Spanish  rulers.  The  report  of 
Vaca  to  his  king  confirmed  the  rumors  which  had  already  excited  the 
Spaniards,  and  they  became  mad  with  the  lust  of  gold  and  passion 
for  adventure  ;  and  valiant  cavaliers,  who  had  won  renown  in  the  bat- 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  137 

ties  of  the  Moor  among  the  mountains  of  Andalusia,  and  had  seen 
the  silver  cross  of  Ferdinand  raised  above  the  red  towers  of  the 
Alhambra,  now  turned  their  brave  swords  against  the  feeble  natives 
of  the  New  World.  Less  than  half  a  century  had  gone  by  since 
the  discovery  of  America  ;  the  conquests  of  Pizarro  and  Cortez  were 
fresh  in  men's  minds,  and  an  expedition,  containing  the  enchanting 
quality  called  hazard,  was  soon  organized.  Illustrious  noblemen  sold 
their  vineyards  and  mortgaged  their  estates  to  fit  the  adventurers 
out,  assured  they  would  never  need  more  gold  than  they  would 
bring  back  from  the  true  El  Dorado.  The  young  men  saw  visions  ; 
the  old  men  dreamed  dreams ;  volunteers  flocked  to  the  familiar 
standards ;  and  an  army  was  soon  ready  "  to  discover  and  subdue  to 
the  crown  of  Spain  the  'Seven  Cities  of  Cibola.'  ' 

And  so  these  people  of  the  New  World  were  conquered,  and  their 
country  occupied  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  Spain. 

Here  is  the  first  account  we  have  of  an  ancient  race  dwelling 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  and  even  this  scarcely 
received  public  attention  until  recent  discoveries  revived  the  old 
record.  Through  the  military  operations  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, and  more  especially  its  geological  surveys,  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  "Cave"  and  "Cliff  Dwellers"  have  been  discovered  within  a 
few  years,  followed  by  the  most  remarkable  and  interesting  disclo- 
sures. We  shall  be  able  to  furnish  such  views  of  the  cave  and  cliff 
dwellings  of  centuries  ago  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader,  that,  even  before  Columbus  sailed  on  his  voyage  of  discovery, 
a  peaceful,  industrious  race,  cultivating  the  soil  and  practising  some 
of  the  arts,  dwelt  in  considerable  portions  of  the  New  West. 

CAVE-DWELLERS. 

On  the  bluffs  of  Beaver  Creek,  a  small  stream  tributary  to  the 
Rio  Verde,  are  about  fifty  walled  caves  of  different  sizes,  once  the 
refuge  of  a  prehistoric  race,  of  whom  the  present  Indian  tribes  have 
no  knowledge  or  traditions,  although  their  traditions  run  back  four  or 
five  centuries.  These  caves  are  from  five  to  twenty  feet  in  depth. 
The  mouths  are  closed  by  mason-work  of  stone  and  cement  still  in  a 
good  state  of  preservation.  The  larger  caves  are  divided  by  wood 
and  stone  partitions  and  floors  into  numerous  small  apartments, 
where  it  would  seem  this  strange  people  passed  years  of  doubt  and 
fear,  threatened  by  famine  within,  and  by  cruel  persecution  and  tor- 
ture from  a  besieging  enemy  without.  The  lower  caves  were  reached 


138 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


by  climbing  the  projecting  points  of  the  bluffs ;  but  the  higher  ones 
could  be  reached  only  by  ladders,  and  that,  too,  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  tumbling  down  from  sixty  to  one  hundre.d  feet. 

Near  by  these  caves  are  the  ruins  of  stone  dwellings  built  without 
cement,  evidently  the  homes  of  the  people  who  constructed  the  caves 
for  a  refuge  from  their  enemies. 

W.  H.  Holmes,  of  the  United  States  Survey  Corps,  examined 
these  ruins  carefully,  and  he  says  the  cut  "  gives  a  fair  representation 
of  the  present  appearance  of  these  cave-dwellings."  He  remarks 
further :  — 

"  Small  fragments  of  mortar  still  adhered  to  the  firmer  parts  of 
the  wall,  from  which  it  is  inferred  that  they  were  at  one  time  plas- 
tered. It  is  also  extremely  probable  that  they  were  walled  up  in 
front  and  furnished  with  doors  and  windows,  yet  no  fragment  of  wall 


CAVE-TOWN    NEAR  THE  SAN  JUAN. 


has  been  preserved.  .  .  .  This  circumstance  should  be  considered  in 
reference  to  its  bearing  upon  the  question  of  antiquity.  If  we  sup- 
pose the  recess  to  be  destroyed  is  six  feet  deep,  the  entire  cliff  must 
recede  that  number  of  feet  in  order  to  accomplish  it.  If  the  rock 
were  all  of  the  friable  quality  of  the  middle  part,  this  would  indeed 
be  the  matter  of  a  very  few  decades  ;  but  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  upper  third  of  the  cliff-face  is  composed  of  beds  of  compara- 
tively hard  rocks,  sandstones,  and  indurated  shales.  It  should  also 
be  noted  still  further  that  at  the  base  of  the  cliff  there  is  an  almost  total 
absence  of  debris,  or  fallen  rock,  or  even  of  an  ordinary  talus  of  earth, 
so  that  the  period  that  had  elapsed  since  these  houses  were  deserted, 
must  equal  the  time  taken  to  undermine  and  break  down  the  six  feet 
of  solid  rock,  plus  the  time  required  to  reduce  the  solid  rock  to  dust ; 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


139 


considering,  also,  that  the  erosive  agents  here  are  unusually  weak, 
the  resulting  period  would  certainly  not  be  inconsiderable." 

This  illustration  furnishes  a  view  of  cave-dwellings  somewhat  dif- 
ferent from  those  just  described.  They  were  discovered  by  A.  D. 
Wilson,  chief  of  the  United  States  Topographical  Corps  in  Southern 
Colorado.  The  chief  building  was  about  the  size  of  the  Patent  Office 
at  Washington.  As  described  by  him  to  another,1  "  it  stood  upon  the 


ANCIENT  CAVE-DWELLINGS  ON  THE  McELMO. 


banks  of  the  Animus,  in  the  San  Juan  country,  and  contained  per- 
haps five  hundred  rooms.  The  roof  and  portions  of  the  walls  had 
fallen,  but  the  part  standing  indicated  a  height  of  four  stories.  A 
number  of  the  rooms  were  fairly  preserved,  had  small  loop-hole  win- 
dows, but  no  outer  doors.  The  building  had  doubtless  been  entered 
originally  by  means  of  ladders  resting  on  niches,  and  drawn  in  after 
the  occupants.  The  floors  were  of  cedar,  each  log  as  large  round  as 
a  man's  head,  the  spaces  filled  neatly  by  smaller  poles  and  twigs, 
covered  by  a  carpet  of  cedar  bark.  The  ends  of  the  timber  were 

1  Emma  C.  Hardacre. 


140  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

bruised  and  frayed,  as  if  severed  by  a  dull  instrument ;  in  the  vicinity 
were  stone  hatchets,  and  saws  made  of  sandstone-slivers  about  two 
feet  long,  worn  to  a  smooth  edge.  A  few  hundred  yards  from  the 
mammoth  building  was  a  second  large  house  in  ruins,  and  between 
the  two  strongholds  ruins  of  small  dwellings,  built  of  cobble-stones 
laid  in  adobe,1  and  arranged  along  streets,  after  the  style  of  the  vil- 
lage of  to-day.  The  smaller  houses  were  in  a  more  advanced  state  of 
ruin,  on  account  of  the  round  stones  being  more  readily  disintegrated 
by  the  elements  than  the  heavy  masonry.  The  streets  and  houses  of 
this  deserted  town  are  overgrown  by  juniper  and  piflon, — the  latter 
a  dwarf,  wide-spreading  pine  which  bears  beneath  the  scales  of  its 
cones  delicious  and  nutritious  nuts.  From  the  size  of  the  dead  as 
well  as  the  living  trees,  and  from  their  position  on  the  heaps  of 
crumbling  stones,  it  is  evident  that  a  great  period  of  time  has  elapsed 
since  the  buildings  fell.  How  many  hundred  years  they  stood  after 
desertion  before  yielding  to  the  inroads  of  time  cannot  be  certainly 
known." 

Some  writers  maintain  that  the  presence  of  cedar  wood  in  these 
ruins,  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  is  .evidence  that  great  antiquity 
cannot  be  attached  to  them.  There  is  no  reason  why  cedar  in  South- 
ern Colorado,  well  protected,  should  not  continue  sound  as  long  as  it 
does  in  Asia  or  Egypt.  In  the  former  country  it  has  been  kept  a 
thousand  years,  and  in  the  latter  two  thousand,  after  being  taken  from 
the  forest.  The  cedars  of  Colorado,  and  other  parts  of  the  Southwest, 
never  rot.  They  die,  and  stand  erect,  without  sap  or  rot.  "The 
winds  and  whirling  sands  carve  the  dead  trees  into  forms  of  fantas- 
tic 'beauty,  drill  holes  through  the  trunks,  and  play  at  hide-and-seek 
in  the  perforated  limbs,  until,  after  ages  of  resistance,  they  literally 
blow  away  in  atoms  of  fine,  clear  dust." 

Many  of  the  ancient  towns  in  question  were  built  in  the  form  of  a 
circle,  as  well  as  in  that  of  a  square  and  parallelogram.  But  what- 
ever form  was  adopted,  the  measurement  was  exact.  The  square 
was  a  perfect  square,  and  the  circle  a  perfect  circle.  The  cut  on  next 
page  represents  a  circular  town,  with  three  tiers  of  dwellings,  one 
above  the  other,  the  second  tier  receding  from  the  first,  and  the  third 
from  the  second.  Evidently  it  was  built  both  for  homes  and  defence. 
It  was  town  and  fort  combined. 

The  rooms  of  some  of  the  houses  referred  to  were  plastered,  and 
the  mortar  was  put  on  with  the  hands,  —  a  fact  established  by  the 
distinct  impression  of  the  fingers,  and,  in  some  instances,  of  the 

1  Mud  or  clay  bricks  dried  in  the  sun. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


141 


whole  hand.  In  one  instance,  the  plastering  bore  the  imprint  of  the 
little  chubby  hands  of  children,  who,  no  doubt,  were  delighted  with 
the  impressions  they  could  make  in  the  mortar  before  it  was  dry, 
proving  that  they  were  human. 

The  foregoing  sketches  of  cave-dwellings  are  a  fair  illustration  of 
all  which  abound  in  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Arizona,  Utah,  and  other 
portions  of  the  New  West.  We  need  not  multiply  illustrations,  since 
the  remarkable  ruins  of  some  mammoth  structures  to  follow,  with  the 


A  CAVE-TOWN  RESTORED. 


still  more  wonderful  cliff -dwellings,  will  acquaint  the  reader,  as  far  as 
can  be  possible  at  present,  with  this  mysterious  race  of  human 
beings. 

Amongst  the  ruins  of  the  valley  of  Gila,  Arizona,  is  the  "  Casa 
Grande,"  whose  marvellous  history  antedates  even  the  coming  of  the 
Spaniards. 

The  eminence  on  which  it  stands  is  two  and  one-half  miles  from 
the  Rio  Gila  River,  and  both  the  structure  and  its  surroundings  fur- 
nish evidence  that  it  must  have  existed  five  or  six  centuries,  and 


142 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


probably  longer.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Coronado  referred  to  this 
ruin  under  the  name  of  the  "  Chichilticalle,  or  the  Red  House." 
Nearly  two  hundred  years  ago  this  ruin  was  visited  by  Fathers 
Mange  and  Rino,  and  it  was  very  ancient  at  that  time.  Father 
Mange  described  it  as  including  eleven  buildings  then,  "  surmounted 
by  a  protecting  wall  of  moderate  height."  Now,  only  the  following 
ruin  is  in  such  a  state  of  preservation  as  to  admit  of  intelligent  exam- 
ination, although  two  others  are  clearly  visible.  "  It  is  built  of  large 
adobes  measuring  four  feet  by  two,  and  it  is  fifty  feet  by  forty  feet 
in  size.  The  walls  are  five  feet  thick  at  the  base,  and  gradually 
decrease  in  breadth  toward  the  top.  The  inside  is  divided  into  five 


THE  CASAS   GRANGES  IN  1859. 

rooms,  the  central  one  being  eight  feet  long  and  fourteen  wide  ;  the 
others  are  thirty-two  feet  long  by  ten  wide. 

"  Fragments  of  cedar-wood  beams,  still  inserted  in  the  walls,  prove 
that  the  buildings  originally  consisted  of  three,  perhaps  in  its  central 
portion  of  four,  stories.  No  staircase,  nor  anything  to  take  its  place, 
can  be  made  out,  so  that  communication  between  the  stories  must 
have  taken  place  by  means  of  ladders.  A  vast  conflagration  has 
everywhere  left  indelible  traces,  and  this  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  work  of  the  Apaches,  the  wildest  and  most  indomitable  of  all  the 
Indian  tribes.  The  '  Casa  Grande '  was  the  centre  of  an  important 
establishment.  Bartlett  tells  us  that  in  every  direction,  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach,  we  see  crumbling  walls  and  masses  of  rubbish,  the 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


remains  of  old  buildings,  while  Father  Mange,  Rino,  and  Font  say 
that  the  plain  was  covered  for  a  radius  of  ten  miles  with  hillocks  of 
adobes  turned  to  dust.  In  fact,  volumes  would  not  suffice  to  describe 
all  the  ruins  in  these  regions,  or  all  the  people  who  have  inherited 
them."  1 

The  existence  of  artificial  canals,  also,  in  this  vicinity,  furnish 
undoubted  proof  that  irrigation  was  understood  and  practised  in  that 
far-off  period.  One  canal,  evidently  intended  to  receive  the  waters 
of  the  Gila,  and  distribute  them  over  the  cultivated  lands,  appears  to 
have  been  nearly  ten  miles  in  length,  twenty-five  feet  wide  or  more, 
•and  ten  feet  deep. 

It  is  claimed  that 
in  that  portion  of  Ari- 
zona known  as  Tonto 
Basin,  embracing  more 
than  ten  thousand 
square  miles,  nearly 
every  eminence  fur- 
nishes unmistakable 
proof  of  an  ancient 
race  in  its  ruins.  In 
some  of  the  valleys,  the 
foundations  and  walls 
of  cities  have  been  dis- 
covered, once  inhabi- 
ted by  thousands  of 
intelligent  and  busy 
people.  Although 
their  history  is  in- 
volved in  mystery,  there  is  no  question  now,  that  it  runs  back  into 
the  centuries  before  Columbus  discovered  this  western  world.  And, 
while  the  writers  and  explorers  of  the  past  have  believed  that  the 
races  of  to-day  radiated  over  the  earth  from  some  point  in  Asia,  the 
opinion  of  Senor  Altamirano,  of  Mexico,  the  best  Aztec  scholar  ever 
known,  is,  that  Asia  was  peopled  from  this  country,  instead  of  this 
country  being  peopled  from  Asia.  In  other  words,  this  is  the  old 
world  instead  of  the  new.  What  disposition  he  makes  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden  does  not  appear. 

The  above  ruin  is  perched  on  the  top  of  a  rock  in  the  McElmo 
Valley,  with  good  evidence  of  an  agricultural  people  dwelling  near  by. 

1  Prehistoric  America,  by  the  Marquis  de  Xadaillac. 


A   TOWER, 
On  the  summit  of  a  rock  in  the  McElmo  Valley. 


144  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  structure  was  erected,  no  doubt,  both  for  observation  and 
defence.  Holmes  says  that  "every  isolated  rock  and  every  bit  of 
mesa  within  a  circle  of  miles  is  strewn  with  remnants  of  human 
dwellings,"  as  represented  by  the  cut. 

In  New  Mexico  there  are  "Casas  Grandes"  even  more  remarka- 
ble than  that  of  the  Gila  Valley.  They  are  in  San  Miguel  Valley, 
near  the  boundary  line  of  the  Territory.  "  Masses  of  rubbish  in  the 
midst  of  which  rise  parts  of  walls,  some  of  them  fifty  feet  high,  indi- 
cate the  old  site  of  the  town.  The  walls  were  built  of  adobes. 
These  adobes  were  of  very  irregular  length  and  twenty-two  inches 
thick,  while  the  walls  themselves  were  nearly  five  feet  wide  and  sim- 
ply coated  with  clay  moistened  with  water.  The  chief  building  was 
eight  hundred  feet  long  on  the  fronts  facing  north  and  south,  but 
only  two  hundred  and  fifty  on  those  to  the  east  and  west." 

"  A  short  distance  off,  other  buildings  surround  a  square  court. 
Here,  too,  we  find  the  little  cells  which  are  one  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  '  Casas  Grandes,'  as  of  the  cliff-houses  and  the  pue- 
blos. This  is  an  important  indication  of  similar  habits,  and  of  the 
similar  origin  of  the  builders.  There  are  more  than  two  thousand 
mounds  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  '  Casas  Grandes,'  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  they  were  burial-grounds.  A  few  miles  farther  off  rises  a 
regular  fortress,  not  built  of  adobes,  but  of  well-dressed  stones  put 
together  without  mortar  of  any  kind.  The  walls  are  from  ten  to 
twenty  feet  thick,  and  the  summit  is  reached  by  a  path  cut  in  the 
rock." 

Lieutenant  Simpson,  of  the  United  States  corps,  in  his  "  Navajoe 
Expedition,"  describes  the  ruins  in  the  Canon  de  Chaco,  and  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rio  de  Chelley.  There  are  over  thirty  of  these  ruins, 
six  of  which  he  describes,  viz.  :  Pintado,  Meje-gi,  Una-Vida,  Hungo 
Pavie,  Chettro-Kettle,  and  Penasca-Blanca.  All  but  the  last  strik- 
ingly resemble  each  other,  so  that  the  illustration  on  the  following 
page  substantially  represents  them  all.  The  Lieutenant  says  :  — 

"The  pueblo  Pintado  formed  one  structure,  and  was  built  of  tab- 
ular pieces  of  hard,  fine-grained,  compact,  gray  sandstone,  a  material 
which  is  unknown  in  the  present  architecture  of  New  Mexico.  Age 
and  the  atmosphere  have  imparted  a  reddish  tint,  the  layers,  or  slabs, 
being  not  thicker  than  three  inches,  and  sometimes  as  thin  as  a  fourth 
of  an  inch.  The  masonry  discovers  a  combination  of  science  and 
art,  which  can  only  be  referred  to  a  higher  state  of  civilization  and 
refinement  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  either  the  Mexicans  or 
Pueblos  of  to-day. 


MARVELS   OF  RACE. 


RUINS  IN  THE  CANON    DE  CHACO. 


"  So  beautiful,  diminutive,  and  true  are  the  details  of  the  struc- 
ture, as  to  give  them  at  a  little  distance  the  appearance  of  a  magnifi- 
cent piece  of  mosaic  work. 


146  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  In  the  outer  face  of  the  buildings  no  signs  of  mortar  are  to  be 
seen,  the  intervals  between  the  beds,  or  layers,  being  chinked  with 
beautifully  colored  pebbles  of  the  minutest  thinness ;  the  filling  and 
backing  of  the  walls  is  done  in  rubble  masonry,  the  mortar,  however, 
showing  no  indication  of  the  presence  of  lime ;  their  thickness  at 
the  base  is  a  little  more  than  three  feet,  while  higher  up  it  is  less, 
diminishing  every  story  by  retreating  jogs  on  the  inside  from  the 
bottom  to  the  top. 

"The  elevation  of  the  walls  at  the  present  time  is  thirty-two  feet, 
showing  it  to  have  been  originally  four  stories  high  ;  the  ground-plan, 
in  exterior  development,  is  four  hundred  and  thirteen  feet.  On  the 
ground-floor  are  fifty-four  apartments,  the  smallest  one  measuring 
five  feet  square,  the  largest  one  thirteen  feet  by  seven.  These  rooms 
communicate  with  each  other  by  means  of  small  doors,  two  and  a 
half  feet  wide  by  three  feet  high. 

"  In  the  second  story  the  doors  are  mu'ch  larger ;  in  this,  as  in  the 
third  story,  were  once  windows.  The  system  of  flooring  was  unhewn 
beams  about  six  inches  in  diameter,  from  which  the  bark  had  been 
carefully  removed ;  they  were  laid  transversely  from  wall  to  wall, 
small,  peeled  sticks  about  one  inch  in  diameter  being  laid  across 
them ;  these  were  covered  with  grass  or  tulle,  which,  with  a  layer  of 
mud  mortar,  furnished  the  floor  to  the  room  above.  These  beams 
show  no  signs  of  the  saw  or  axe,  but  bear  the  marks  of  having  been 
hacked  off  by  some  very  imperfect  instrument. 

"  In  different  portions  of  the  ruins  were  three  circular  apartments 
sunk  in  the  ground,  the  walls  being  of  masonry  ;  these  apartments 
measured  from  three  to  twenty-seven  feet  in  diameter,  and  were 
about  six  feet  in  the  clear,  were  called  estufas,  and  were  used  for  the 
performances  of  the  ceremonies  and  rites  of  their  religion,  the  only 
entrance  to  them  being  through  a  small  door  in  the  top,  which  also 
admitted  the  light." 

CLIFF-DWELLERS. 

We  now  come  to  the  cliff-dwellers,  the  most  remarkable  and  mys- 
terious of  all  the  ancient  races.  "  In  an  encampment,  one  thousand 
feet  above  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Mancos,  are  single  houses,  groups  of 
two  and  three,  and  villages,  according  to  the  width  of  the  shelf  they 
occupy.  They  are  so  high  that  the  naked  eye  can  distinguish  them 
merely  as  specks.  There  is  no  possible  access  to  them  from  above 
on  account  of  the  rocks  that  project  overhead  ;  no  present  way  of 
reaching  them  below,  although  doubling  paths  and  foot-holes  in  the 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


147 


RESTORED   TOWER  AND  CLIFF-HOUSES. 


148  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

rocks  show  where  the  way  has  been  of  old  trodden  by  human  feet.  A 
few  houses  are  two  stories,  —  one  showed  four  stories,  —  but  generally 
they  are  not  higher  than  a  man's  head ;  division  walls  are  built,  be- 
ginning at  the  back  of  the  opening  and  working  outward  to  the  front 
of  the  cave,  which  is  so  neatly  walled  by  masonry  of  the  prevailing 
stones  that  the  artificial  work  is  scarcely  noticeable  by  a  casual 
observer.  Upon  the  summits  of  the  loftiest  battlements  are  placed 
at  irregular  intervals  round  stone  towers,  supposed  to  have  been 
signal-towers." 

The  full-page  illustration  furnishes  a  good  view  of  cliff-houses  and 
round  tower  as  seen  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Mancos  and  other  locali- 
ties. Holmes  says  :  "  The  cliff -houses  conform  in  shape  to  the  floor 
of  the  niche  or  shelf  on  which  they  are  built.  They  are  of  firm,  neat 
masonry,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  attached  or  cemented 
to  the  cliffs  is  simply  marvellous.  Their  construction  has  cost  a 
great  deal  of  labor,  the  rock  and  mortar  of  which  they  are  built 
having  been  brought  for  hundreds  of  feet  up  the  most  precipitous 
places." 

In  describing  the  scene  illustrated  by  the  cut,  Holmes  adds  :  — r 
"In  one  place  in  particular,  a  picturesque  outstanding  promontory 
has  been  full  of  dwellings,  literally  honeycombed  by  this  earth-burrow- 
ing race ;  and  as  one  from  below  views  the  ragged,  window-pierced 
crags,  he  is  unconsciously  led  to  wonder  if  they  are  not  the  ruins  of 
some  ancient  castle,  behind  whose  mouldering  walls  are  hidden  the 
dread  secrets  of  a  long-forgotten  people ;  but  a  nearer  approach 
quickly  dispels  such  fancies,  for  the  windows  prove  to  be  only  the 
doorways  to  shallow  and  irregular  apartments,  hardly  sufficiently 
commodious  for  a  race  of  pigmies.  Neither  the  outer  openings  nor 
the  apertures  that  communicate  between  the  caves  are  large  enough 
to  allow  a  person  of  large  stature  to  pass,  and  one  is  led  to  suspect 
that  these  nests  were  not  the  dwellings  proper  of  these  people,  but 
occasional  resorts  for  women  and  children,  and  that  the  somewhat 
extensive  ruins  in  the  valley  below  were  their  ordinary  dwelling- 
places.  On  the  brink  of  the  promontory  above  stands  the  ruin  of  a 
tower,  still  twelve  feet  high,  and  similar  in  most  respects  to  those 
already  described.  These  round  towers  are  very  numerous  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mancos.  From  this  point  alone  at  least  three  others 
are  in  view,  some  on  the  higher  promontories,  others  quite  low, 
within  twenty  or  thirty  feet  of  the  river-bed.  I  visited  and  measured 
seven  along  the  lower  fifteen  miles  of  the  course  of  this  stream.  In 
dimensions  they  range  from  ten  to  sixteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  from 


MARVELS    OF  RACE. 


149 


five  to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  while  the  walls  are  from  one  to  two  feet 
in  thickness.  They  are  in  nearly  every  case  connected  with  other 
structures,  mostly  rectangular  in  form.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Mancos, 
however,  a  double  circle  occurs,  the  smaller  one  having  been  the 
tower  proper.  It  is  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  eight  to  ten 
in  height.  The  larger  circular  wall  is  forty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
from  two  to  four  feet  high,  and  is  built  tangent  to  the  smaller." 

This  cut  shows  a. 
cliff-dweller's  house  in 
a  rock,  a  marvellous 
piece  of  enterprise  and 
ingenuity.  As  much 
at  home  among  the 
mountain  cliffs  as  the 
eagles,  this  persistent 
people  seemed  to  court 
difficulties  and  dan- 
gers. With  few  and 
poor  tools  to  labor 
with,  their  example  of 
heroic  endeavor  and 
perseverance  comes 
down  to  us  over  the 
centuries  to  inspire 
noble  effort,  as  the 
house  in  the  rock 
proves. 

The  cut  on  the  fol- 
lowing page  is  an  ex- 
cellent sketch  of  what 
Jackson  discovered, 
and  named  the  "Two- 
Storied  Cliff-House," 
on  the  banks  of  the 
Rio  Mancos.  It  is  sit- 
uated seven  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river,  and  is  well 
preserved.  One  of  the  rooms  measures  nine  feet  by  ten  ;  another 
is  six  feet  square ;  while  the  height  of  the  building  is  twelve  feet. 
There  is  a  space  of  two  or  three  feet  between  the  walls  ;  and  the 
rocks  above  form  a  roof  overhanging  it.  The  inside  walls  of  the 
rooms  were  covered  with  several  coafings  of  clay  moistened  with 


HOUSE  IN  A  ROCK  OF  MONTEZUM 


150 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


water.  Here,  again,  was  ample  proof  that  the  mortar  was  laid  on 
with  the  hand,  for  the  imprint  of  fingers  was  distinct. 

Mr.  Jackson  furnishes  the  following  description  of  a  ruin,  quite 
different  from  the  one  last  mentioned,  and  more  accessible.  He  dis- 
covered it  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  San  Juan :  — 

"  About  twelve  miles  below  the  Montezuma  we  discovered,  far 
away  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  a  great  circular  cave,  occu- 
pying very  nearly  the  entire  height  of  the  bluff  in  which  it  occurred, 
and  in  which,  by  close  inspection  with  the  glass,  we  were  enabled  to 
make  out  a  long  line  of  masonry.  Fording  the  river,  and  approach- 
ing it,  we  found  that  the  old  bluff-line  at  this  place  was  a  little  over 


TWO-STORIED    CLIFF-HOUSE. 

two  hundred  feet  in  height,  the  upper  half  a  light-colored,  firm,  mas- 
sive sandstone,  and  the  lower  a  dark  red  and  shaly  variety.  The 
opening  of  the  cave  is  almost  circular,  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
divided  equally  between  the  two  kinds  of  rocks,  reaching,  within  a 
few  feet,  the  top  of  the  bluff  above  and  the  level  of  the  valley  below. 
It  runs  back  in  a  semi-circular  sweep  to  a  depth  of  one  hundred  feet ; 
the  top  is  a  perfect  half-dome,  and  the  lower  half  only  less  so  from 
the  accumulation  of  debris  and  the  thick  brushy  foliage ;  the  cool 
dampness  of  its  shadowed  interior,  where  the  sun  never  touches, 
favoring  a  luxuriant  growth.  A  stratum  of  harder  rock  across  the 
central  line  of  the  cave  has  left  a  bench  running  around  its  entire 
half-circle,  upon  which  is  builf  the  row  of  buildings  which  caught  our 


MARVELS  OF  RACE,  151 

attention  half  a  mile  away.  The  houses  occupy  the  left-hand  or 
eastern  half  of  the  cave,  for  the  reason,  probably,  that  the  ledge 
was  wider  on  that  side ;  and  the  wall  back  of  it  receded  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  give  considerable  additional  room  for  the  second  floor, 
or  for  the  upper  part  of  the  one-story  rooms.  It  is  about  fifty  feet 
from  the  outer  edge  of  the  cave  to  the  first  building,  a  small  structure 
sixteen  feet  long,  three  feet  wide  at  the  outer  end,  and  four  at  the 
opposite  end;  the  walls,  standing  only  four  feet  on  the  highest 
remaining  corner,  were  nearly  all  tumbled  in.  Then  came  an  open 
space,  eleven  feet  wide  and  nine  deep,  that  served  probably  as  a  sort  of 
workshop.  Four  holes  were  drilled  into  the  smooth  rock  floor,  about 
six  feet  equidistantly  apart,  each  from  six  to  ten  inches  deep,  and 
five  in  diameter,  as  perfectly  round  as  though  drilled  by  machinery. 
We  can  reasonably  assume  that  these  people  were  familiar  with  the 
art  of  weaving,  and  that  it  was  here  they  worked  at  the  loom,  the 
drilled  holes  supporting  its  posts.  In  this  open  space  are  a  number 
of  grooves  worn  into  the  rock  in  various  places,  caused  by  the  arti- 
ficers of  the  little  town  in  shaping  and  polishing  their  stone 
implements. 

"THE  MAIN    BUILDING. 

"  The  main  building  comes  next,  occupying  the  widest  portion  of 
the  ledge,  which  gives  an  average  width  of  ten  feet  inside  ;  it  is  forty- 
eight  feet  long  outside,  and  twelve  high,  divided  inside  into  three 
rooms,  the  first  two  thirteen  and  a  half  feet  each  in  length,  and  the  third 
sixteen  feet,  divided  into  two  stories,  the  lower  and  upper  five  feet  in 
height.  The  joist-holes  did  not  penetrate  through  the  walls,  being 
inserted  about  six  inches  —  half  the  thickness.  The  beams  rested 
upon  the  sloping  back-wall,  which  receded  far  enough  to  make  the 
upper  rooms  about  square.  Window-like  apertures  afforded  commu- 
nication between  each  room  all  through  the  second  story,  excepting 
that  which  opened  out  to  the  back  of  the  cave.  There  was  also  one 
window  in  each  lower  room,  about  twelve. inches  square,  looking  out 
toward  the  open  country ;  and  in  the  upper  rooms  several  small  aper- 
tures, not  more  than  three  inches  wide,  were  pierced  through  the 
wall  —  hardly  more  than  peep-holes. 

"THE  ROOM  DIVISIONS. 

"The  walls  of  the  large  building  continued  back  in  an  unbroken 
line  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  farther,  with  an  average  height  of 
eight  feet.  The  space  was  divided  into  eleven  apartments,  with 


152  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

communicating  apertures  between  them.  The  first  room  was  nine 
and  a  half  feet  wide,  the  others  dwindling  gradually  to  only  four  feet 
in  width  at  the  other  extremity.  The  rooms  were  of  unequal  length, 
the  following  being  their  inside  measurements,,  commencing  from  the 
outer  end,  viz.  :  Twelve  and  a  half,  nine  and  a  half,  eight,  seven  and 
a  half,  nine,  ten,  eight,  seven,  seven,  eight,  thirty-one  feet ;  the  ledge 
then  runs  along  fifty  feet  farther,  gradually  narrowing,  where  another 
wall  occurs  crossing  it,  after  which  it  soon  merges  into  the  smooth 
wall  of  the  cave.  The  first  of  these  rooms  had  an  aperture  large  enough 
to  crawl  through,  leading  outward ;  the  wall  around  it  had  been 
broken  away  so  that  its  exact  size  could  not  be  determined ;  all  the 
others,  of  which  there  were  about  two  to  each  room,  were  mere  peep- 
holes, about  three  inches  in  diameter,  and  generally  pierced  through 
the  wall  at  a  downward  angle.  No  sign  of  either  roofing  or  flooring 
material  could  be  found  in  any  of  the  rooms.  Everything  of  that 
kind  has  been  thoroughly  burned  out  or  removed,  so  that  not  a  ves- 
tige of  wood-work  remains.  We  cannot  be  positively  certain  that 
they  had  ever  been  roofed,  the  mild  temperature  of  this  region 
hardly  necessitating  any  other  covering  than  such  as  the  ample 
dome  of  the  cave  itself  offered. 

"  In  the  central  room  of  the  main  building  we  found  a  circular 
basin-like  depression,  thirty  inches  across*  and  ten  deep,  that  had 
served  as  a  fireplace,  being  still  filled  with  the  ashes  and  cinders  of 
aboriginal  fires,  the  surrounding  walls  being  blackened  with  smoke 
and  soot.  This  room  was  undoubtedly  the  kitchen  of  the  house. 
Some  of  the  smaller  rooms  appear  to  have  been  used  for  the  same 
purpose,  the  fires  having  been  made  in  the  corner  against  the  back- 
wall,  the  smoke  escaping  overhead. 

"ANCIENT    MASONRY. 

"  The  masonry  displayed  in  the  construction  of  the  walls  is  very 
creditable ;  a  symmetrical  curve  is  preserved  throughout  the  whole 
line,  and  every  portion  perfectly  plumb  ;  the  sub-divisions  are  at  right 
angles  to  the  front.  The  stones  employed  are  of  the  size  used  in  all 
similar  structures,  and  are  roughly  broken  to  a  uniform  size.  More 
attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  securing  a  smooth  appearance 
upon  the  exterior  than  the  interior  surfaces,  the  clay  cement  being 
spread  to  a  perfectly  plane  surface,  something  like  a  modern  stucco 
finish.  In  many  places,  of  course,  this  had  peeled  away,  leaving  the 
rough,  ragged  edges  of  the  stones  exposed. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE, 


153 


"  On  the  inner  walls  of  some  of  the  sub-divisions  that  appear  to 
have  been  used  less  than  others,  the  impressions  of  the  hands,  and 
even  the  delicate  lines  on  the  thumbs 
and  fingers  of  the  builders,  were  plain- 
ly retained ;  in  one  or  two  cases  a 
perfect  mould  of  the  whole  inner  sur- 
face of  the  hand  was  imprinted  in  the 
plastic  cement.  They  were  consider- 
ably smaller  than  our  own  hands,  and 
were  probably  those  of  women  or  chil- 
dren. In  the  mortar  between  the 
stones  several  corn-cobs  were  found 
imbedded,  and  in  other  places  the 
whole  ear  of  corn  had  been  pressed 
into  the  clay,  leaving  its  impression  ; 
the  ears  were  quite  small,  none  more 
than  five  inches  long.  In  the  rub- 
bish of  the  large  house  some  small 
stone  implements,  rough  indented 
pottery  in  fragments,  and  a  few  ar- 
row-points were  found.  It  is  a  won- 
der that  anything  is  found,  for  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  every  house 
has  been  ransacked  time  after  time 
by  wandering  bands  of  Utes  and  Na- 
vajos,  who  would  search  with  keen 
eyes  for  any  articles  of  use  or  orna- 
ment left  after  the  first  spoliation. 

"The  whole  appearance  of  the 
place  and  its  surroundings  indicates 
that  the  family  or  little  community 
who  inhabited  it  were  in  good  circum- 
stances and  the  lords  of  the  surround- 
ing country.  Looking  out  from  one 
of  their  houses,  with  a  great  dome 
of  solid  rock  overhead,  that  echoed 
and  re-echoed  every  word  uttered 
with  marvellous  distinctness,  and  be- 
low  them  a  steep  descent  of  one  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  broad  fertile  valley  of  the  Rio  San  Juan,  covered  with 
waving  fields  of  maize  and  scattered  groves  of  majestic  cottonwoods, 


154 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 


these  old  people,  whom  even  the  imagination  can  hardly  clothe  with 
reality,  must  have  felt  a  sense  of  security  that  even  the  incursions  of 
their  barbarian  foes  could  hardly  have  disturbed." 

The  cut  (p.  153)  represents  cliffs  or  palisades,  two  hundred  feet 
high,  rising  almost  perpendicularly.  About  one-third  of  the  distance 
upward,  in  a  recess  made  by  the  weather,  is  a  cliff-house,  sixty  feet 
long  by  about  fifteen  at  its  widest  part.  The  walls  are  a  foot  thick 
and  flush  with  the  edge  of  the  precipice.  They  are  erected  with 
skill,  the  angles  are  regular,  the  lines  do  not  diverge  from  the  per- 
pendicular, and,  when  the  difficulties  the  builder  had  to  contend  with 
in  laying  his  foundations  in  such  a  position  and  at  such  a  height  are 
taken  into  account,  these  aerial  dwellings  may  well  excite  our  admi- 
ration. A  people  who  would  undertake  a  work  of  so  much  labor, 
with  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  before  them,  must  have  pos- 
sessed some  of  the  most  reliable  traits  of  character. 


GROUND-PLAN  OF  LAST-NAMED  CLIFF-HOUSES. 

Forty  or  fifty  feet  above  the  cliff-house  described  is  another  of 
equal  dimensions,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  from  the 
river.  Holmes  says  of  the  extraordinary  situation  of  these  houses, 
"  Whether  viewed  from  below  or  from  the  heights  above,  the  effect 
is  almost  startling,  and  one  cannot  but  feel  that  no  ordinary  circum- 
stances could  have  driven  a  people  to  such  places  of  resort." 

The  ground  plan  of  the  cliff-houses  just  described  will  give  the 
reader  a  clearer  view  of  their  construction  and  magnitude.  As  the 
sketch  shows,  the  rooms  were  separated  by  division  walls,  which, 
however,  did  not  reach  to  the  rock-roof.  The  passage  from  one 
room  to  another  was  accomplished  by  ladders  reaching  to  the  top  of 
the  partition  walls. 

The  circle  in  the  centre  represents  the  inevitable  estufa,  which  is 
found  in  all  the  buildings  examined.  To  what  this  room  was  devoted 
has  been  a  mooted  question  among  explorers ;  but  the  most  reason- 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


'55 


able  view  appears  to  be  that  it  was  consecrated  to  sacred  use,  and 
designed  for  worship.  It  is  supposed  that  the  people  were  sun- 
worshippers,  and  that,  within  this  singular  apartment,  their  more 
singular  rites  were  performed.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  fact 
that  the  room  is  cut  off  from  the  others,  so  that  the  only  way  of 
entrance  is  through  a  tube  of  solid  masonry  about  twenty-two  inches 
in  diameter,  and  in  this  particular  case,  thirty  feet  in  length. 
Through  this  contracted  space  a  person  was  obliged  to  crawl  as  if 
the  act  were  a  penance  belonging  to  the  rite  to  be  performed  within 
the  estnfa.  In  other  build- 
ings the  tube  leading  to  the 
estufa  was  ten,  fifteen,  and 
twenty  feet  in  length. 

The  Montezuma  Valley, 
which  is  ten  miles  wide  in 
some  places,  is  covered  with 
ruins.  The  cliffs  overhang- 
ing the  valley  are  dotted  with 
caves  and  rock-shelters, 
which  the  population  turned 
to  account.  Holes  were  dis- 
covered, cut  in  the  solid  rock 
at  regular  distances  for  the 
hands  and  feet  in  the  peri- 
lous ascent  to  these  habita- 
tions. The  forests  could  not 
have  furnished  timber  long 
enough  for  ladders  to  reach 
these  lofty  abodes.  The 
houses  were  not  as  numerous 
here  as  in  the  valley  of  the 
Hovenweep,  where,  "on  a 

natural  terrace  measuring  scarcely  three  hundred  feet  by  fifty,  the 
cliff-dwellers  had  managed  to  erect  no  less  than  forty  different 
houses." 

The  above  is  another  cliff-house  similar  to  the  last  one  described, 
situated  on  the  Rio  Mancos  River,  in  Southwestern  Colorado.  It  was 
discovered  by  W.  H.  Holmes,  of  the  United  States  Survey,  in  1876; 
and  he  says  :  — 

"  So  cleverly  are  these  houses  hidden  away  in  the  dark  recesses, 
and  so  very  like  the  surrounding  cliffs  in  color,  that  I  had  almost 


CLIFF-DWELLINGS,    MANCOS    CANON. 


1 56 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


completed  the  sketch  of  the  upper  house  before  the  lower,  or  '  sixteen- 
windowed '  one  was  detected.  They  are  at  least  eight  hundred  feet 
above  the  river.  The  lower  five  hundred  feet  is  of  rough  cliff-broken 


CLIFF-HOUSE  IN  THE  CANON  DE  CHELLY. 


slope,  the  remainder  of  massive,  bedded  sandstone,  full  of  wind-worn 
niches,  crevices,  and  caves.  Within  one  hundred  feet  of  the  cliff-top, 
set  deep  in  a  great  niche,  with  arched,  overhanging  roof,  is  the  upper 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  157 

house,  its  front-wall  built  along  the  very  brink  of  a  sheer  precipice. 
Thirty  feet  below,  in  a  similar  but  less  remarkable  niche,  is  the  larger 
house,  with  its  long  line  of  apertures,  which  I  afterward  found  to  be 
openings  intended  rather  for  the  insertion  of  beams  than  for  win- 
dows." 

The  drawing  (page  156)  is  a  cliff-house  two  miles  from  Cave 
Town.  It  is  built  at  a  height  of  seventy  feet,  and  is  reached  by  steps 
cut  in  the  rock.  "  The  house  is  one  story  high  ;  the  ground-floor 
measures  eighteen  feet  by  ten,  and  this  narrow  space  forms  two  sep- 
arate rooms,  whilst  the  first  story  consists  of  only  one.  The  over- 
hanging rock  serves  as  a  protecting  roof."  If  the  house  were  built 
for  defence  chiefly,  it  was  a  success.  Arrows  could  not  reach  it  from 
below,  and  no  enemy  would  be  so  foolhardy  as  to  attempt  to  reach  it 
by  the  steps  cut  in  the  rock.  Arrows  from  above  would  have  pierced 
his  heart  by  the  time  he  accomplished  half  the  distance. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  explorers  is  well  set  forth  by  Mr. 
Jackson,  in  the  following  account  of  climbing  to  one  of  these  human 
eyries  in  Southwestern  Colorado.  The  party  were  already  one  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  valley,  and  Mr.  Jackson  was  photographing  a 
cliff-house,  when  "  one  of  the  party,  sharper-eyed  than  the  rest,  de- 
scried, away  up  near  the  top,  perfect  little  houses,  sandwiched  in 
among  the  crevices  of  the  horizontal  strata  of  the  rock  of  which  the 
bluff  was  composed.  While  busy  with  my  photographs,  two  of  the 
party  started  up  to  scale  the  height,  and  inspect  this  lofty  abode.  By 
penetrating  a  side-canon  some  little  ways,  a  more  gradual  slope  was 
found,  that  carried  them  to  the  summit  of  the  bluff.  Now,  the 
trouble  was  to  get  down  to  the  house,  and  this  was  accomplished  only 
by  crawling  along  a  ledge  of  about  twenty  inches  in  width,  and  not 
tall  enough  for  more  than  a  creeping  position.  In  momentary  peril 
of  life,  —  for  the  least  mistake  would  precipitate  him  down  the  whole 
of  the  dizzy  height,  —  our  adventurous  seeker  after  knowledge  crept 
along  the  ledge  until  the  broader  platform  was  reached,  upon  which 
the  most  perfect  of  the  houses  alluded  to  stood.  The  ledge  ended 
with  the  house,  which  was  built  out  flush  with  its  outer  edge.  This' 
structure  resembled  in  general  features  the  cliff-houses  already  spoken 
of.  The  masonry  was  as  firm  and  solid  as  when  first  constructed ; 
the  inside  was  finished  with  exceptional  care.  In  width  it  was  about 
five  feet  in  front,  the  side-wall  running  back  in  a  semicircular  sweep, 
in  length  fifteen,  and  in  height  seven  feet.  The  only  aperture  was 
both  door  and  window,  and  about  twenty  by  thirty  inches  in  diame- 
ter. Its  uniqueness  was  its  position  on  the  face  of  the  bluff.  To 


158  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  casual  observer,  it  would  not  be  noticed  once  in  fifty  times  in 
passing,  so  similar  to  the  rocks  between  which  it  was  plastered  did  it 
appear  from  our  position  on  the  trail." 

Captain  Macomb,  who  commanded  an  expedition  from  Santa  F6 
to  Grand  River,  for  the  United  States  Government,  examined  the 
ruins  of  cliff-dwellings  in  Labyrinth  Canon,  and  he  reported  as 
follows :  — 

"  Two  miles  below  the  head  of  Labyrinth  Canon  we  came  upon 
the  ruins  of  a  large  number  of  houses  of  stone,  evidently  built  by  the 
Pueblo  Indians,  as  they  are  similar  to  those  on  the  Dolores,  and  the 
pottery  scattered  about  is  identical  with  that  before  found  in  so  many 
places.  It  is  very  old,  but  of  excellent  quality,  made  of  red  clay  coated 
with  white,  and  handsomely  figured.  Here  the  houses  are  built  in 
the  sides  of  the  cliffs.  A  mile  or  two  below  we  saw  others  crowning 
the  inaccessible  summits  —  inaccessible  except  by  ladders  —  of  pic- 
turesque detached  buttes  of  red  sandstone,  which  rise  to  the  height 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  canon.  Similar 
buildings  were  found  lower  down  ;  and  broken  pottery  was  picked  up 
upon  the  summits  of  the  cliffs  overhanging  Grand  River ;  evidence 
that  these  dreadful  canons  were  once  the  homes  of  families  belonging 
to  the  great  people  formerly  spread  over  all  this  region  now  so  utterly 
sterile,  solitary,  and  desolate." 

Mr.  Crofutt  says  of  the  full-page  illustration  :  "  It  represents  a  pic- 
turesque, outstanding  promontory  hundreds  of  feet  above  the  valley, 
full  of  dwellings,  literally  honeycombed  by  this  earth-burrowing  race. 
And  as  one  from  below  views  the  rugged,  window-pierced  crags,  he 
is  unconsciously  led  to  wonder  if  they  are  not  the  ruins  of  some 
ancient  castle,  behind  whose  mouldering  walls  are  hidden  the  dead 
secrets  of  a  long-forgotten  people  ;  but  a  near  approach  quickly  dis- 
pels such  fancies,  for  the  windows  only  prove  to  be  doorways  to 
shallow  and  irregular  apartments  of  small  dimensions. 

"It  is  hardly  probable  that  these  elevated  places  were  the  dwell- 
ings proper  of  these  people,  but  occasional  resorts  for  women  and 
children,  as  a  place  of  safety  in  times  of  war  and  invasion  ;  and  that 
the  somewhat  extensive  ruins  in  the  valley  below  were  their  ordinary 
dwelling-places.  On  the  brink  of  the  promontory  above,  stands  the 
ruins  of  a  tower,  still  twelve  feet  high. 

"  In  another  locality,  one  of  the  cliff-houses  is  fully  one  thousand 
five  hundred  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  cafkm,  and  between  three 
hundred  and  four  hundred  feet  below  the  top.  Every  house  appears 
in  perfect  preservation,  and,  when  viewed  with  a  field-glass,  shows 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


159 


CLIFF-DWELLINGS,  SOUTHERN  COLORADO. 


i6o 


MARl'ELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


the  whitewash  still  on  the  walls,  and  its  size  indicates  that  the  town 
once  contained  a  thousand  or  more  people.     At  the  bottom  of  the 


cliff  it  was  strewn  with  ruins,  evidently  fallen  from  above,  and  only 
portions  of  the  houses  were  standing." 

Professor  Powell  says  of  these  ruins  and  people  :    "  These  cliff- 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  l6l 

houses  are  usually  placed  on  the  most  inaccessible  cliffs  ;  sometimes 
the  mouths  of  caves  have  been  walled  across,  and  there  are  many 
evidences  to  show  their  anxiety  to  secure  defensible  positions.  Prob- 
ably the  nomadic  tribes  were  sweeping  down  upon  them,  and  they 
resorted  to  these  cliffs  and  caves  for  safety." 

Mr.  Crofutt  remarks :  "  The  cliffs,  on  which  are  to  be  found  many 
stone  buildings,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  are  of  all  sizes  and 
dimensions,  varying  in  height  from  a  few  feet  to  over  one  thousand 
five  hundred  feet.  They  are  scattered  along  the  sides  of  the  canons, 
sometimes  only  a  few  feet  from  the  main  walls,  and  in  others  several 
hundred  yards  away  —  isolated  buttes.  We  are  of  the  opinion  they 
were  all,  at  one  time,  a  portion  of  the  canon  walls,  but  by  the  action 
of  the  eroding  elements  for  thousands  of  years,  have  become  de- 
tached, and  are  now  a  puzzling  problem  for  both  the  historian  and 
geologist. 

"At  one  point,  we  are  told,  twelve  miles  west  from  the  Ojo  Verde, 
where  several  canons  unite  by  the  elimination  of  their  dividing  walls, 
and  debouch  into  a  comparatively  open  country,  the  view  westward  is 
over  a  wide  extent  of  country ;  in  its  general  aspects  a  plain,  but 
everywhere  deeply  cut  with  a  tangled  maze  of  canons,  and  thickly 
set  with  towers,  castles,  and  spires  of  most  varied  and  striking  forms 
—  the  most  wonderful  monuments  of  erosion  that  eyes  ever  beheld. 
Near  the  mesa  stand  detached  portions  of  it  of  every  possible  form, 
from  broad,  flat  tables  to  slender  cones,  crowned  with  pinnacles  of 
the  massive  sandstone  which  form  the  perpendicular  faces  of  the 
canon  walls.  These  castellated  buttes  are  from  one  thousand  to  one 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  no  language  is  adequate 
to  convey  a  just  idea  of  the  strange  and  impressive  scenery  formed 
by  their  grand  and  varied  outlines.  In  some  localities  the  surface 
is  diversified  by  columns,  spires,  castles,  and  battlemented  towers,  of 
colossal,  but  often  beautiful  proportions,  closely  resembling  elaborate 
structures  of  art,  but  in  effect  far  surpassing  the  most  imposing 
monuments  of  human  skill.  In  other  places  are  long  lines  of  spires 
of  white  stone,  standing  on  red  bases,  thousands  in  number,  but  so 
slender  as  to  recall  the  most  delicate  carving  in  ivory  or  the  fairy 
architecture  of  some  Gothic  cathedral,  many  of  which  were  upwards 
of  five  hundred  feet  in  height.  On  the  summit  of  many  of  these 
wonderful  towers  are  stone  buildings,  as  represented  in  the  accom- 
panying illustration." 

We  have  not  space  to  represent  the  remarkable  ruins  of  ancient 
races  which  Mr.  Jackson  found  in  New  Mexico.  We  can  only  say, 


l62 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


in  addition  'to  what  was  said  on  a  previous  page  about  mammoth 
ruins,  that  Mr.  Jackson  found  ruins  of  buildings  as  large  as  any  at 
Washington  except  the  Capitol. 

"One  of  these,  the  'Pueblo  del  Arroya,'  has  wings  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  feet  in  length,  and  the  western  wall  of  the  court  is 
two  hundred'  and  sixty-eight  feet.  Facing  the  centre  of  the  court 
are  three  circular  estnfas,  one  of  thirty-seven  feet  in  diameter  and 
three  stories  in  height.  Another,  the  '  Pueblo  Chettro  Kettle,'  is 
four  hundred  and  forty  feet  long  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide, 


ams 

ODD 
ana 
DDD 
ana 
ODD 
ana 


DODOH 

DDDDD 
DO 


annnaannaaar: 


oSs  cchoired    '  £oA  de  c&ndreA 

GROUND  PLAN  OF  THE  PUEBLO  BONITO  IN  THE  CHACO  CANON. 

and  presents  the  remains  of  four  stories.  The  logs  forming  the 
second  floor  extend  through  the  walls  a  distance  of  six  feet,  and  prob- 
ably at  one  time  supported  a  balcony  on  the  shady  side  of  the  house. 
In  the  wall  running  around  three  sides  of  the  building  nine  hundred 
and  thirty-five  feet  in  length  and  forty  feet  in  height,  there  were 
more  than  two  million  pieces  of  stone  for  the  outer  surface  of  the 
outer  wall  alone.  This  surface  multiplied  by  the  stones  of  the  oppo- 
site surface,  and  also  by  the  stones  of  the  interior  or  transverse  lines 
of  masonry,  would  give  a  total  of  thirty  million  pieces  in  three  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  thousand  cubic  feet  of  wall.  These  millions  of 
pieces  had  to  be  quarried  and  put  in  position  ;  the  timbers  were 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  163 

brought  from  a  great  distance,  and  considering  the  vastness  of  the 
work  and  the  amount  of  labor  and  time  that  must  have  been  ex- 
pended, these  buildings  may  well  be  compared  with  the  most  famous 
works  of  what  is  so  wrongly  called  the  Old  World." 

The  Pueblo  Bonito  is  another  of  the  mammoth  buildings  dis- 
covered. It  is  five  hundred  and  forty-four  feet  long,  and  three  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  wide.  It  has  a  capacious  inside  court  divided  into 
nearly  equal  parts  by  a  row  of  estnfas.  Mr.  Jackson  has  restored  this 
pueblo  to  what  he  supposes  to  have  been  its  original  appearance,  and 
has  furnished  the  ground  plan  shown  on  the  preceding  page. 

The  ruins  are  in  such  confusion  that  it  is  impossible  to  tell  the 
exact  number  of  rooms  this  structure  contained.  It  must  have  con- 
tained more  than  the  Pueblo  of  Pintado  ;  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
were  counted  in  the  latter.  It  would  not  be  extravagant  to  say  that 
the  Pueblo  Bonito  contained  two  hundred  rooms.  The  drawing  gives 
a  good  idea  of  the  form  and  magnitude  of  the  building. 

Lieutenant  Simpson,  of  the  United  States  Survey  Corps,  has  done 
a  good  thing  by  furnishing  the  illustration  on  p.  164,  whereby  the 
reader  can  understand  the  form  and  magnitude  of  an  ancient  pueblo, 
without  the  least  doubt  that  here  was  the  abode  of  an  enterprising 
people  centuries  ago. 

The  Abbe  Dominech  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  ruins  are  of 
Toltec  origin  ;  and  that  the  buildings  were  erected  in  the  twelfth 
century.  He  says:  "All  these  towns  are  so  ancient  that  no  Indian 
traditions  of  the  present  races  make  any  mention  of  them.  The 
banks  of  the  Rio  Verde  and  Salinas  abound  in  ruins  of  stone  dwell- 
ings and  fortifications  which  certainly  belong  to  a  more  civilized 
people  than  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico.  They  are  found  in  the 
most  fertile  valleys,  where  traces  of  former  cultivation  and  of  im- 
mense canals  for  artificial  irrigation  are  visible.  The  solidly  built 
walls  of  these  structures  are  twenty  or  thirty  yards  in  length,  by 
forty  or  fifty  feet  in  height  ;  few  of  the  houses  are  less  than  three 
stories,  while  all  contain  small  openings  for  doors  and  windows,  as 
well  as  loop-holes  for  defence  from  attacks." 

The  Abbe  continues  his  observations,  and  accounts  for  the  extinc- 
tion of  these  ancient  races,  as  follows  :  — 

"These  vast  monuments  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  are  known 
to  but  few  travellers  ;  consequently  but  few  writers  have  speculated 
about  their  origin.  Certain  it  is  that  all  the  pueblos  of  this  wilder- 
ness are  of  an  incontestable  homogeneous  character ;  they  are  the 
work  of  a  great  people,  of  an  intelligent  nation,  whose  civilization 


164 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


was  far  superior  to  that  of  the  actual  tribes.  But  the  question  is, 
what  became  of  this  vast  population  who  have  left  the  land  covered 
with  such  numerous  and  wonderful  constructions  ? 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  165 

"It  is  known  that  all  agglomerations  of  men  and  families,  on 
settling  in  a  new  land,  build  their  dwellings  in  wooded  parts,  or  near 
streams,  in  order  to  secure  these  indispensable  elements.  Many  of 
this  population  were  suddenly  deprived  of  wood  and  water. 

"  Perpetual  droughts  followed  the  clearing  of  the  woods,  compel- 
ling the  inhabitants  of  high  plateaus  to  emigrate  into  the  plains ; 
when  the  rain  failed,  the  wells  and  cisterns  dried  up,  and  the  horrors 
of  thirst  drove  the  people  from  their  abodes.  Both  rivers  and  their 
sources  dried  up.  .  .  . 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  soil  of  these  regions  is  often  covered 
with  agate,  jaspar,  chalcedony,  petrified  trees,  and  masses  of  arana- 
ceous  lava,  which,  descending  from  the  hills,  absorb  the  water  of 
creeks  and  their  sources,  fill  up  the  beds  of  streams,  and  render  lands 
barren  and  dry  which  at  one  time  were  watered  and  fertile. 

"  When  these  phenomena  take  place,  the  people  that  dwell  in  the 
country  are  naturally  compelled  to  flee  from  these  newly  made  des- 
erts, which  become  the  abodes  of  sickness,  famine,  and  death,  and  go 
to  seek  a  more  favored  land.  These  compulsory  emigrations  must 
have  been  frequent,  to  judge  from  the  traces  the  population  have  left 
behind ;  notwithstanding,  the  ranks  of  the  emigrants  must  have  been 
fearfully  thinned  by  exposure,  hardships,  and  misery.  .  .  . 

"  The  Zufiis  and  other  tribes  still  dwell  in  pueblos  similar  to 
these  we  have  described ;  and  it  is  probable  that  to  their  ancestors 
the  construction  of  these  gigantic  edifices  ought  to  be  attributed." 

The  lofty  towers  of  El  Moro  are  called  Inscription  Rock  because 
they  are  covered  with  strange  characters,  carved  by  a  people  who 
were  familiar  with  them  centuries  ago.  Travellers,  too,  carved  their 
names  thereon  nearly  a  hundred  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at 
Plymouth.  In  "  1526"  Don  Joseph  de  Bazemzellos,  whoever  he  may 
have  been,  inscribed  his  name  on  this  wonderful  rock.  In  "1629" 
Juan  Gonzales  carved  his  name  there.  Before  he  came,  in  1606,  a 
messenger  "passed  by  the  place  with  despatches."  And  later  still, 
on  "September  28,  1736,"  Don  Martini  de  Cochea  wrote  his  name 
there.  What  business  brought  travellers  there  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  and  more,  the  curious  only  may  conjecture.  The 
mystery  becomes  more  mysterious  in  consequence  of  these  facts, 
and  the  rock  more  of  a  marvel,  especially  when  we  consider  that 
these  travellers  found  the  original  inscriptions  there,  and  may  have 
been  carved  thereon  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  years  before. 

Thus,  in  connection  with  the  cave  and  cliff  dwellings  are  found 
numerous  hieroglyphics,  or  picture-writing,  painted  or  engraved  on 


i66 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


rocks,  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  cliff-dwellers,  or  some  other 
prehistoric  people.  That  those  especially  cut  in  the  rock  are  very 
ancient  cannot  be  doubted.  That  they  were  engraved  by  men  of 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


I67 


more  or  less  intelligence  and  ambition  is  equally  manifest.  Holmes 
says  :  "  The  work  on  some  of  the  larger  groups  of  inscriptions  must 
have  been  one  of  immense  labor,  and  must  owe  its  completion  to 
strong  and  enduring  motives.  With  a  very  few  exceptions,  the  en- 
graving bears  undoubted  evidence  of  age."  As  there  is  no  figure  of 
a  horse  among  them,  it  is  presumed  that  they  antedate  the  introduc- 
tion of  that  useful  animal  into  the  country. 

The  following  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  rock  inscriptions  that 
appear  in  different  parts  of  the  New  West :  — 


ROCK    INSCRIPTIONS. 


Mr.  Holmes's  conclusion  about  the  ruins  considered  is  as  follows  :  — 
"As  to  situation,  they  may  be  classified  under  three  heads:  (i) 
lowland  or  agricultural  settlements  ;  (2)  cave-dwellings  ;  and  (3)  cliff- 
houses  or  fortresses. 

"  Those  of  the  first  class  are  chiefly  on  the  river  bottoms,  in  close 
proximity  to  water,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  most  fertile  lands,  and 
located  without  reference  to  security  or  means  of  defence. 


1 68  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  Those  of  the  second  are  in  the  vicinity  of  agricultural  lands,  but 
built  in  excavations  in  low  bluff  faces  of  the  Middle  Crustaceous 
shales.  The  sites  are  chosen,  also,  I  imagine,  with  reference  to  secu- 
rity ;  while  the  situation  of  the  cliff-houses  is  chosen  totally  with 
reference  to  security  and  defence,  —  built  high  upon  the  steep  and 
inaccessible  cliffs,  and  having  the  least  possible  degree  of  conven- 
ience to  field  or  water. 

"  As  to  use,  the  position  for  the  most  part  determines  that.  The 
lowland  ruins  are  the  remains  of  agricultural  settlements,  built  and 
occupied  much  as  similar  villages  and  dwellings  would  be  occupied 
by  peaceful  and  unmolested  peoples  of  to-day.  The  cave-dwellers, 
although  they  may  have  been  of  the  same  tribe  and  contemporaneous, 
probably  built  with  reference  to  their  peaceable  occupations  as  well 
as  to  defence  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  or  not  they  made 
these  houses  their  constant  dwelling-places.  The  cliff-houses  could 
only  have  been  used  as  places  of  refuge  and  defence.  During  seasons 
of  invasion  and  war,  families  were  probably  sent  to  them  for  security, 
while  the  warriors  defended  their  property  or  went  forth  to  battle ; 
and  one  can  readily  imagine  that,  when  the  hour  of  total  defeat  came, 
they  served  as  a  last  resort  for  a  desperate  and  disheartened  people." 

This  view  of  the  cliff-dwellers  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  "  corn- 
rooms,"  "bean-rooms,"  ''work-rooms,"  and  "fire-rooms,"  or  kitchens, 
were  found  in  many  dwellings.  The  presence  of  corn  and  beans, 
together  with  the  remains  of  utensils,  denoted  the  use  of  the 
apartments. 

Another  factor  in  the  solution  of  this  problem  concerning  the 
ancient  races,  is  the  existence  of  pottery  throughout  the  whole 
region  where  ruins  have  been  discovered  and  examined.  It  has  been 
found  in  such  quantities  and  variety  as  to  fill  explorers  with  wonder. 
Mr.  Holmes  says  :  "  The  study  of  the  fragmentary  ware  found  about 
the  ruins  is  very  interesting,  and  its  immense  quantity  is  a  constant 
matter  of  wonder.  On  one  occasion,  while  encamped  near  the  foot 
of  the  Mancos  Cafton,  I  undertook  to  collect  all  fragments  of  vessels 
of  manifestly  different  designs  within  a  certain  space ;  and,  by  select- 
ing pieces  having  peculiarly  marked  rims,  I  was  able  to  say,  with  cer- 
tainty, that  within  ten  feet  square  there  were  fragments  of  fifty-five 
different  vessels.  In  shape  these  vessels  have  been  so  varied  that 
few  forms  known  to  civilized  art  could  not  be  found.  Fragments  of 
bowls,  cups,  jugs,  pitchers,  urns,  and  vases  in  indefinite  variety  may 
be  obtained  in  nearly  every  heap  of  dtbris"  That  the  makers  well 
understood  the  decorative  art,  is  evident  from  the  great  variety  of 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


169 


beautiful  patterns  discovered.  Mr.  Jackson  says  that  one  "  can  see 
at  a  glance  the  proficiency  they  had  attained  in  its  manufacture  and 
ornamentation,  displaying  an  appreciation  of  proportion,  and  a  fer- 


VASES    FOUND  ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  SAN  JUAN. 

tility  of  invention  in  decoration,  that  makes  us  almost  doubt  their 
ante-Columbian  origin  ;  but,  nevertheless,  without  going  into  the 
details,  we  believe  them  to  antedate  the  Spanish  occupancy  of  this 
country,  and  to  owe  none  of  their  excellence  to  European  influences, 
being,  very  likely,  an  indigenous  product." 

This  singular  people  must  have  possessed  original  ideas  about 
ornamentation  and  convenience,  judging  from  their  domestic  utensils. 
The  cuts  on  the  next  page  show  two  of  their  unique  drinking-vessels, 
one  representing  a  man  on  horseback.  The  place  for  drinking  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in  the  top  of  the  hat.  We  can  scarcely  conceive 
of  a  more  awkward  drinking-vessel  to  handle,  nor  one  of  more  origi- 
nal design.  It  was  artistically  wrought  and  beautifully,  painted. 

Whether  the  tail  con- 
stituted the  handle  or 
not  does  not  fully  ap- 
pear. So  complicated 
an  affair  must  have 
been  handled  most 
conveniently  by  the 
legs. 

The  other  vessel  is 
nearly  as  curious,  and 
somewhat  more  diffi- 
FRAGMENTS  OF  POTTERY,  cult    to    understand. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Whether  the  bottle  is  filled  and  emptied  through  the  aperture  on  the 
back  or  hinder  extremity  is  a  question,  though  we  suppose  it  is  the 
one  on  the  back.  The  reader,  however,  is  permitted  to  differ  from  us. 
The  above  must  suffice  as  a  sample  of  the  pottery  found  through- 
out the  ancient  ruins.  Figures  of  birds,  beasts,  reptiles,  and  animals 
are  used  in  decorating,  together  with  the  most  fantastic  forms  that 
imagination  can  invent.  The  figures  on  some  were  painted ;  on 
others,  carved  or  raised. 

Implements  of  husbandry  were  found  among  the  ruins  in  many 
places ;  also  stone  hand-mills  for  grinding  corn.  Arrow-points  were 
numerous  about  the  cliff-houses  ;  and  their  position  indicated  that 
they  were  hurled  against  the  habitations  by  an  enemy.  "  It  is  re- 
markable that,  except  for  the  cop- 
per rings  found  at  Pecos,  not  a 
weapon  or  ornament  of  metal  has 
been  found.  Were  such  articles 
carried  off  by  the  Indians,  or  were 
the  early  inhabitants  of  the  peu- 


A  DRINKING-VESSEL  FROM  ZUNI. 


A  DRINKING-VESSEL  FROM  OLD  ZUNI. 


bios  of  New  Mexico  and  Colorado  ignorant  of  iron  and  bronze  ?  This 
latter  hypothesis  seems  probable,  for  the  roughly  squared  beams 
supporting  their  home  appear  to  have  been  shaped  by  stone  imple- 
ments." 

The  remains  of  human  beings  have  frequently  been  found  among 
the  ruins  described.  In  1859  the  fragment  of  a  human  skull  was 
found  associated  with  the  bones  of  the  mastodon,  in  the  auriferous 
gravel  of  Table  Mountain,  California,  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
below  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  discovery  has  been  discussed 
in  all  the  learned  societies  of  this  country  and  Europe.  In  1866 
Professor  Whitney,  Director  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  California, 
discovered  a  human  skull  nearly  complete,  as  appears  from  the  photo- 
graph of  it  on  the  following  page,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  deep 
in  the  earth. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


171 


Professor  Whitney  announced  his  discovery  to  Mr.  Deser,  in  the 
following  words  :  "  My  chief  interest  now  centres  in  the  human 
remains,  and  in  the  works  from  the  hand  of  man  that  have  been 
found  in  the  Tertiary  strata  of  California,  the  existence  of  which  I 
have  been  able  to  verify  during  the  last  few  months.  Evidence  has 
now  accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that  I  feel  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  we  have  unequivocal  proofs  of  the  existence  of  man  on 
the  Pacific  coasts  prior  to  the  glacial  period,  prior  to  the  period  of 
the  mastodon  and  the  elephant,  at  a  time  when  animal  and  vegetable 
life  were  entirely  different  from  what  they  are  now,  and  since  which 

a  vertical  erosion  of  from  two 
to  three  thousand  feet  of  hard 
rock  strata  has  taken  place." 
We  have  simply  glanced 
at  the  subject  of  ancient 
races  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
If  we  have  succeeded  in  sat- 
isfying the  reader  that  the 
New  West  was  inhabited  by 
man  prior  to  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims,  and  even  prior 
to  the  discovery  of  this  con> 
tinent  by  Columbus,  our  ob- 
ject has  been  accomplished  ; 
our  first  marvel  of  races  has 
been  established.  We  have 
seen  enough,  surely,  to  sat- 
isfy us  that  there  is  foundation  for  the  legendary  tale  which  Mr. 
Jackson's  guide  in  Southwestern  Colorado  told  him,  and  which  Mr. 
Ingersol  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Formerly,  the  aborigines  inhabited  all  this  country  we  had  been 
over  as  far  west  as  the  head-waters  of  the  San  Juan,  as  far  north  as 
the  Rio  Doures,  west  some  distance  into  Utah,  and  south  and  south- 
west throughout  Arizona  and  on  down  into  Mexico.  They  had  lived 
there  from  time  immemorial,  — r  since  the  earth  was  a  small  island, 
which  augmented  as  its  inhabitants  multiplied.  They  cultivated  the 
valley,  fashioned  whatever  utensils  and  tools  they  needed  very  neatly 
and  handsomely  out  of  clay  and  wood  and  stone,  not  knowing  any  of 
the  useful  metals  ;  built  their  homes  and  kept  their  flocks  and  herds 
in  the  fertile  river-bottoms,  and  worshipped  the  sun.  They  were  an 
eminently  peaceful  and  prosperous  people,  living  by  agriculture  rather 


PHOTOGRAPH  OF  A  HUMAN    SKULL 
Found  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  deep  in  the  earth. 


1 72  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

than  by  the  chase.  About  a  thousand  years  ago,  however,  they  were 
visited  by  savage  strangers  from  the  north,  whom  they  treated  hos- 
pitably. Soon  these  visits  became  more  frequent  and  annoying. 
Then  their  troublesome  neighbors  —  ancestors  of  the  present  Utes  — 
began  to  forage  upon  them,  and,  at  last,  to  massacre  them  and  devas- 
tate their  farms  ;  so,  to  save  their  lives  at  least,  they  built  houses 
high  upon  the  cliffs,  where  they  could  store  food  and  hide  away  till 
the  raiders  left.  But  one  summer  the  raiders  did  not  go  back  to  the 
mountains  as  the  people  expected,  but  brought  their  families  with 
them  and  settled  down.  So,  driven  from  their  homes  and  lands, 
starving  in  their  little  niches  on  the  high  cliffs,  they  could  only  steal 
away  during  the  night,  and  wander  across  the  cheerless  uplands.  To 
one  who  has  travelled  these  steppes,  such  a  flight  seems  terrible,  and 
the  mind  hesitates  to  picture  the  suffering  of  the  sad  fugitives. 

"  At  the  cristone  they  halted,  and  probably  found  friends,  for  the 
rocks  and  caves  are  full  of  the  nests  of  these  human  wrens  and 
swallows.  Here  they  collected,  erected  stone  fortifications  and 
watch-towers,  dug  reservoirs  in  the  rocks  to  hold  a  supply  of  water, 
which  in  all  cases  is  precarious  in  this  latitude,  and  once  more  stood 
at  bay.  Their  foes  came,  and  for  one  long  month  fought  and  were 
beaten  back,  and  returned  day  after  day  to  the  attack  as  merciless 
and  inevitable  as  the  tide.  Meanwhile,  the  families  of  the  defenders 
were  evacuating  and  moving  south,  and  bravely  did  their  protectors 
shield  them  till  they  were  all  safely  a  hundred  miles  away.  The 
besiegers  were  beaten  back  and  went  away.  But  the  narrative  tells 
us  that  the  hollows  of  the  rocks  were  filled  to  the  brim  with  the 
mingled  blood  of  conquerors  and  conquered,  and  red  veins  of  it  ran 
down  into  the  canon.  It  was  such  a  victory  as  they  could  not  afford 
to  gain  again,  and  they  were  glad  when  the  long  fight  was  over  to 
follow  their  wives  and  little  ones  to  the  south.  There,  in  the  deserts 
of  Arizona,  on  well-nigh  unapproachable,  isolated  bluffs,  they  built  new 
towns,  and  their  few  descendants,  the  Moquis,  live  in  them  to  this 
day,  preserving  more  carefully  and  purely  the  history  and  veneration 
of  their  forefathers  than  their  skill  or  wisdom.  It  was  from  one  of 
their  old  men  that  this  traditional  sketch  was  obtained." 

PUEBLOS. 

The  Pueblo,  Zufii,  and  Moquis  Indians  are  descendants  of  the 
cliff-dwellers.  Their  dwellings,  occupations,  dress,  customs,  habits, 
and  worship  all  bear  witness  to  this  fact.  Hence,  some  under- 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  1/3 

standing  of  these  tribes  is  necessary  to  confirm  previous  statements 
concerning  ancient  races.  One  writer  states  the  genealogy  as  fol- 
lows, speaking  of  Arizona  :  — 

"  Arizona  has  a  history  that  has  never  been  written.  It  is  only 
told  by  the  inscribed  rocks,  the  empty  irrigating  canals,  the  ruins  of 
populous  towns,  vacant  cliff-dwellings,  deserted  pueblos,  and  broken 
pottery  found  in  so  many  parts  of  the  Territory.  Before  the  European 
saw  this  continent  two  races  had  lived  and  died  in  Arizona.  Near 
Cosnino,  on  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  Railroad,  there  is  a  cafion  two 
thousand  feet  deep,  which  is  one  hundred  yards  wide  at  the  bottom 
and  three  hundred  at  the  top.  Along  the  walls  ledges  project  out- 
ward from  ten  to  twenty  feet.  Between  these,  seven  tiers  of  cliff- 
dwellings  can  be  traced.  It  is  two  hundred  feet  from  the  bottom  of 
the  canon  to  the  lower  tier.  The  front  and  side  walls  are  of  solid 
masonry  and  are  yet  well  preserved.  How  many  thousands  of  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  cliffs  were  occupied  no  man  can  know. 
Between  that  age  and  the  white  man  came  the  race  who  built  the 
canals  and  farmed  the  valleys.  Perhaps  the  most  extensive  of  their 
ruins  are  at  Casa  Grande,  in  the  Gila  Valley,  six  miles  below  Florence 
and  five  miles  south  of  the  river.  When  first  found  by  the  white 
man,  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  the  largest  building 
was  four  stories  high  and  had  walls  six  feet  thick.  A  hundred  years 
ago  one  house  still  remained  which  was  four  hundred  and  twenty  by 
two  hundred  and  sixty  feet.  The  walls  are  of  a  concrete  made  of 
mud  and  gravel,  held  together  by  a  hard  cement.  The  inner  surface 
was  coated  by  this  cement  and  is  hard  and  smooth  to-day.  The  ruin 
is  now  but  fifty  by  thirty  feet  and  will  soon  be  a  mere  mound.  In 
the  vicinity  there  is  an  irrigating  canal  which  has  been  followed  to 
the  Gila,  forty  miles  distant.  This  proves  that  an  immense  body  of 
land  was  cultivated  by  this  people.  In  all  parts  of  the  Territory  are 
ruins  of  a  similar  character,  though  many  are  of  stone.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  say  positively  just  who  those  people  were  and  where  they 
went. 

"The  cliff-dwellers  disappeared,  and  then  came  the  men  who  dug 
the  irrigating  canals.  It  is  highly  probable  that  this  semi-civilized 
people  were  driven  out  by  the  marauding  Apaches  whom  the  Span- 
iards found  in  Arizona.  We  only  know  that  the  three  races  had 
made  this  their  home  ere  the  Spaniards  came." 

"  Pueblo  "  is  the  Spanish  name  for  town  or  village.  There  are 
twenty-six  of  these  Indian  pueblos  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  nine- 
teen of  them  in  the  former  Territory  and  seven  in  the  latter.  Nine 


174 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


of  them  are  on  the  line  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railway,  or 
near  by  it,  viz. :  Taos,  Picario,  San  Juan,  Santa  Clara,  San  Ildefonso, 
Pojungue,  Irambe,  Cuyamanque,  and  Tesugue.  Cortez  found  them 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


175 


here  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  much  more  civilized  than  the 
nomadic  tribes  around  them,  as  they  are  to-day.     They  cultivate  the 


soil  and  live  in  fortified  towns  or  villages,  as  represented  by  the  illus 
tration.     Their  dwellings  are  made  of  adobes.      The  cut  gives  an 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

excellent  view  of  the  Lagima  pueblo,  in  which  the  presence  of  ladders 
indicates  to  the  reader  that  the  dwellings  are  entered  at  the  top. 
Adobes  make  impregnable  walls.  '  In  the  Mexican  War,  General 
Scott  said. "  that  the  ordinary  adobe  house  was  a  pretty  good  fortress. 
Entering  them  at  the  top,  and  then  hauling  up  the  ladders,  furnished 
inhabitants  with  the  best  security  against  their  enemies." 

Generally  a  square,  or  plaza,  is  found  in  the  centre  of  the  pueblos, 
the  habitation  being  built  around  it.  All  pueblos  are  very  much 
alike.  The  walls  of  the  buildings  are  from  two  to  four  feet  thick, 
and  the  roofs  are  constructed  of  timbers  covered  with  dirt  a  foot  or 
more  thick.  One  who  has  examined  them  closely  says :  "  Many 
houses  are  two,  and  some  even  four  and  five  stories,  or  rather  ter- 
races, in  height,  each  successive  story  being  set  back  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet  from  the  side-walls  of  the  next  story  below.  The 
usual  manner  of  entering  these  dwellings  is  by  ascending  a  ladder 
outside  the  building  to  the  roof,  and  through  a  hole  descending  to 
the  interior  by  another  ladder ;  though  some,  as  a  very  modern 
improvement,  have  doors  cut  through  the  side-walls.  This  method 
was  doubtless  adopted  as  a  defensive  measure  during  troublesome 
times,  when  it  was  often  necessary  to  convert  the  pueblo  into  a  for- 
tress from  which  to  repel  hostile  invasions." 

The  Pueblo  of  Taos  furnishes  an  illustration  of  what  the  writer 
just  quoted  means  by  "terraces."  We  believe  that  "terraces"  is  the 
word  rather  than  "stories."  Some  explorers  describe  them  as  houses 
built  in  tiers  one  story  high,  but  on  three,  four,  and  five  terraces,  one 
above  another  ;  and  they  call  the  whole  cluster  together,  "  community 
house." 

The  Pueblo  of  Taos  is  considered  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
the  whole  twenty-six.  It  consists  of  two  communistic  houses,  each 
one  five  stories  high  ;  or,  rather,  built  on  five  terraces,  one  above 
the  other.  There  are  seven  circular  mounds  built  around  the  pueblo, 
supposed  to  be  sweating-chambers,  or  some  sort  of  Turkish  bath, 
which  this  singular  people  used.  One  of  them  was  used  for  a  coun- 
cil chamber,  without  doubt ;  and  there,  too,  their  religious  rites  were 
performed. 

Apart  from  the  town,  and  yet  in  close  proximity  to  it,  are  the  ruins 
of  a  Catholic  cathedral,  presenting  to  the  tourist  a  very  interesting 
subject  for  examination  and  study.  It  must  have  been  a  struc- 
ture of  considerable  magnificence,  especially  for-  that  time  and 
that  people.  The  ruins  indicate  a  building  of  large  proportions  and 
very  substantial.  Architecture  must  have  been  one  of  the  arts  with 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


177 


which  the  inhabitants  were  familiar.     Pottery  was  another ;  proofs 
of  which  lie  scattered  among  the  ruins  everywhere. 

On  top  of  many  of  the  houses  is  the  adobe  oven  ;  though  it  often 
stands  by  itself  apart  from  the  house.  The  illustration  represents 
the  latter. 

Professor  Zahm  has  personally  inspected  several  pueblos,  and 
therefore  speaks  authoritatively  of  the  houses  of  this  curious  people, 
as  well  as  of  the  form  and  durability  of  their  dwellings.  He  says  :  — 
"  One  of  the  first  things  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  visitor  on 
entering  their  houses,  is  the  large  number  of  glass  mirrors  that  adorn 
the  walls.  I  remember  counting  no  fewer  than  seven  —  and  good- 
sized  ones  they  were  —  in  one  room.  An  object  of  special  interest, 
too,  in  every  pueblo,  is  the  estufa,  or  council  chamber.  The  one  in 

Isleta  is  a  circular  struc- 
ture of  adobe  without 
windows,  forty  feet  in  di- 
ameter, and  fifteen  feet  in 
height,  with  only  one  en- 
trance, and  that  through 
the  roof.  The  church  is 
quite  a  large  building,  and 
in  a  good  state  of  preser- 
vation. Like  all  the  other 
buildings  in  the  town,  it 
is  made  of  adobe,  and  has 
walls  six  feet  thick. 

"  The  pueblos  of  San 
Juan,  Taos,  San  Domingo,  Zufii,  Acoma,  and  others,  throughout 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  are,  in  appearance,  essentially  the  same 
as  that  of  Isleta.  In  Isleta,  however,  i:he  houses  are  scarcely  ever 
more  than  one  story  high,  and  are  entered  by  doors  in  the  side, 
whilst  the  houses  of  other  pueblos  are  frequently  several  stories 
in  height,  to  which  entrance  is  obtained  by  ascending  ladders,  and 
passing  down  through  a  hole  in  the  roof.  Men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, cats  and  dogs,  may  be  seen  rapidly  running  up  and  down  these 
ladders  when  going  into  and  coming  out  of  these  curious  dwell- 
ings. 

"It  is  said  that  these  houses  were  constructed  in  this  fashion  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  fortresses,  in  case  of  an  attack  from  an  enemy. 
When  attacked,  the  inhabitants  raise  all  the  ladders,  thereby  cutting 
off  all  possibility  of  entrance  to  their  habitations  ;  and,  as  they  are 


ADOBE    OVEN. 


1 78 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


generally  well  provisioned,  they  are  prepared  to  withstand  a  long  siege. 
But  you  may  say  that  such  structures  may  do  well  enough  against 
a  shower  of  Indian  arrows,  but  that  they  would  never  withstand  bul- 
lets and  cannon-balls.  The  experience,  however,  in  the  Mexican  war 
of  1846,  will  tell  you  differently.  If  what  we  know  of  resisting  power 
of  ordinary  earthworks  were  not  sufficient  to  convince  us  of  the 
strength  of  the  thick  adobe  walls  of  Pueblo  dwellings,  the  actual  tests 
made,  time  and  again,  of  their  strength  should  remove  all  doubt 
about  the  matter.  It  has  been  found,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  a  wall 


THE  OLDEST  HOUSE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


of  adobes  will  withstand  the  batterings  of  shot  and  shell  almost,  if 
not  fully,  as  well  as  the  rampart  of  cotton-bales  that  stood  General 
Jackson  in  such  good  stead  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans. 

"  In  this  connection  I  would  also  make  an  observation  regarding 
the  durability  of  these  structures  of  adobe,  the  material  of  which,  until 
lately,  nearly  all  the  buildings  of  the  Southwest  were  constructed.  It 
might  be  thought,  at  first  sight,  that  they  could  not  withstand  the 
r.ction  of  the  elements  for  more  than  a  few  weeks,  or  months  at  most, 
and  that  the  first  rain-storm  would  wash  them  away.  Such,  however, 
is  far  from  being  the  case.  The  oldest  house  in  the  United  States  is 
built  of  adobe  ;  and  although  it  has  been  standing  at  least  since  1540, 
it  is  still  inhabited,  and  bids  fair  to  last  a  century  more,  and  probably 
longer." 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


1/9 


Professor  Zahm  says  the  oldest  house  in  the  United  States  is  built 
of  adobe.  We  are  able  to  furnish  a  view  of  it  engraved  from  one  of 
Jackson's  photographs.  It  is  several  hundred  years  old  —  an  old 
dwelling  when  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock. 

This  was  one  of  the  first  habitations  erected  in  Santa  Fe",  no 
doubt.  Originally  it  was  destitute  of  door  or  window  in  the  side  and 
end  —  these  have  been  cut  within  a  century.  Santa  Fe  was  a  town 
of  importance  in  1550,  when  it  was  settled  by  the  Spaniards.  Based 
on  this  fact  was  the  "  Tertio-Millennial  Anniversary"  there,  in  1883, 
when  the  place  was  visited  by  representatives  from  every  State  and 
Territory,  and  from  other  nations  as  well.  The  appearance  of  the 
building  indicates  that  it  was  standing  when  the  Spaniards  took 
possession  of  the  place. 


"THE  ADOBE  PALACE." 
Old  Government  House  at  Santa  Fe",  erected  1600. 

Having  seen  the  oldest  adobe  house,  it  may  be  well  to  exhibit  the 
best  one.  So  far  as  we  know,  "The  Adobe  Palace"  of  Santa  Fe  is 
the  best ;  and  it  was  erected  in  1600,  so  that  its  age  is  a  matter  of 
considerable  interest.  It  was  built  for  the  first  governor  when  Santa 
F£,  which  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States,  was  the  capital 
and  centre  of  the  Pueblo  Kingdom.  It  was  named  Palacio  del 
Gobernador ;  and  it  was  occupied  by  the  first  governor  —  Pedro  de 
Peralto  —  in  1600.  "  The  building  itself  has  a  history  as  full  of  pathos 


l8o  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

and  stirring  incident  as  the  ancient  fort  of  St.  Augustine,  and  is 
older  than  that  venerable  pile.  It  had  been  the  palace  of  the 
Pueblos  immemorially  before  the  holy  name  Santa  Fe  was  given  in 
baptism  of  blood  by  the  Spanish  conquerors ;  palace  of  the  Mexicans 
after  they  broke  away  from  the  crown  ;  and  palace  ever  since  its 
occupation  by  El  Gringo.  In  the  stormy  scenes  of  the  seventeenth 
century  it  withstood  several  sieges ;  was  repeatedly  lost  and  won,  as 
the  white  man  or  the  red  held  the  victory."  l 

When  the  United  States  Government  took  possession  of  the 
town,  in  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion,  General  Lew  Wallace  oc- 
cupied this  palace  ;  and  there  Mrs.  Wallace  wrote  her  valuable  arti- 
cles concerning  the  Pueblos.  The  latter  were  loyal  to  our  govern- 
ment. 

We  have  said  that  in  nearly  all  the  pueblos,  the  adobe  buildings 
were  erected  around  a  plaza,  or  park.  It  was  so  in  Santa  Fe.  The 
beautiful  plaza,  with  adobe  houses  in  good  condition  built  around  it, 
appears  as  when  Coronado  passed  through  the  pueblo  almost  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  During  all  this  time  little  change  has 
been  wrought  in  Santa  Fe,  except  what  our  Christian  civilization  has 
made  within  a  few  years.  The  ancient  part  of  the  town  is  substan- 
tially the  same.  It  is  a  very  interesting  scene, — the  ancient  and 
modern  civilizations  side  by  side,  as  it  is,  not  only  in  Santa  Fe,  but 
as  we  saw  it  in  other  parts  of  New  Mexico.  A  terse  writer  says  :  — 

"  Here  are  three  civilizations  side  by  side.  The  Pueblo  Indians, 
the  descendants  of  the  powerful  Aztecs,  present  the  aboriginal  civil- 
ization, just  as  Cabeza  de  Vaca  found  it  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago.  Their  houses,  manners,  and  customs  are  the  same  now  as  then, 
and  theirs  is  the  oldest  type  of  American  civilization  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge.  Then,  there  is  the  Spanish  population.  Prac- 
tically cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  for  hundreds  of  years,  they 
present  in  a  crystallized  form  the  life  of  the  seventeenth  century  in 
the  latter  part  •  of  the  nineteenth.  These  people  present  to-day  the 
generosity,  hospitality,  and  high-spirited  chivalric  feeling  of  the  old 
days  of  Castile.  The  quiet,  easy  life  of  the  Pueblo  and  the  Spaniard 
ran  smoothly  side  by  side  with  no  perceptible  change,  secure  in  the 
isolation  of  distance,  till  suddenly  the  new  civilization  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  borne  along  by  the  swift  and  irresistible  flight  of 
steam  and  electricity,  '  invaded  and  overran  that  hitherto  silent  and 
voiceless  empire.'  A  recent  traveller  through  that  country  expresses 
it  thus :  '  The  old  order,  surprised  suddenly,  has  not  had  time  to  fly 

1  Mrs.  Susan  E.  Wallace. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


181 


or  to  change,  and  stands  mute  in  the  presence  of  the  new.  There 
stands  the  sun-browned  herdsman,  watching  his  flocks  in  the  valley ; 
here  the  Mexican  woman,  with  her  shawl  over  her  head,  looks  shyly 
from  the  door  of  her  adobe  hut,  just  as  she  has  looked  for  all  time, 
while  the  locomotive  dashes  by  them,  and  the  telephone  wire  is 
strung  over  their  heads  to  communicate  with  ranches  forty  miles  in 
the  interior.  There  has  never  been  anything  like  it  in  the  world 
before.'  " 


THE   OLDEST  CHURCH   IN  AMERICA. 

Since  we  are  upon  this  subject,  a  view  of  the  oldest  church  in 
America  will  be  apropos.  It  is  located  at  Santa  Fe",  and,  like  the 
oldest  house,  is  built  of  adobes.  It  has  stood  for  three  centuries, 
and,  though  the  elements  and  time  have  demolished  a  portion  of  its 
tower,  the  interior  is  well  preserved.  There  is  an  oil  painting  of  the 
Annunciation  on  one  of  the  interior  walls  bearing  the  date  "A.n. 
1287."  It  is  thought  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  paintings  in  the  world. 
The  cut  gives  a  correct  representation  of  the  structure. 


1 82  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Modern  civilization  has  created  a  great  contrast  by  erecting 
churches  with  spires ;  a  hotel  that  cost  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  ; 
a  hospital  costing  ninety  thousand  dollars  ;  the  Santa  Fe  Academy, 
together  with  the  railroad,  telegraph,  and  telephone  —  enough  to 
startle  the  ancient  race  living  there  by  appealing  to  their  supersti- 
tious notions. 

The  Pueblo  Tezuque  is  but  eight  miles  from  Santa  Fe,  and  Mrs. 
Wallace,  from  whom  we  have  quoted,  made  herself  familiar  with  the 
manners,  habits,  history,  and  habitations  of  its  people.  She  found 
everything  just  as  described  by  Coronado's  secretary  in  1541.  The 
women  wore  the  same  style  of  dresses  their  ancestors  wore  three 
hundred  years  ago.  The  fashion  had  not  changed  even  once.  Mrs. 
Wallace  gives  such  a  vivid  description  of  one  of  the  girls  as  to  throw 
much  light  upon  the  character  of  the  race.  We  quote  her  description. 

"  There  passes  my  window  at  this  moment  a  young  Indian  girl 
from  Tezuque,  a  village  eight  miles  north  of  Santa  Fe.  Like  the 
beloved  one  of  the  Canticles,  she  is  dark  but  comely,  and  without 
saddle  or  bridle  sits  astride  her  little  burro  in  cool  defiance  of  city 
prejudice.  Always  gayly  dressed,  with  ready  nod  and  a  quick  smile, 
showing  the  whitest  teeth,  we  call  her  the  Bright  Alfarata,  in  memory 
of  the  sweet  singer  of  the  blue  Juniata  ;  though  the  interpreter  says 
her  true  name  is  Poy-ye,  the  Rising  Moon.  Neither  of  us  under- 
stands a  word  of  the  other's  language,  so  I  beckoned  to  her.  She 
springs  to  the  ground  with  the  supple  grace  of  an  antelope,  and 
comes  to  me,  holding  out  a  thin,  slender  hand,  the  tint  of  Florentine 
bronze,  seats  herself  on  the  window-sill,  and,  in  the  shade  of  the 
portal  we  converse  in  what  young  lovers  are  pleased  to  call  eloquent 
silence.  Her  donkey  will  not  stray,  but  lingers  patiently  about,  like 
the  lamb  he  resembles  in  face  and  temper,  and  nibbles  the  scant 
grass  which  fringes  the  acequia.  I  think  his  mistress  must  be  a  lady 
of  high  degree,  perhaps  the  cacique  s  daughter,  she  wears  such  a 
holiday  air,  unusual  with  Indian  women,  and  is  so  richly  adorned 
with  beads  of  strung  periwinkles.  She  wears  loose  moccasins,  'shoes 
of  silence,'  which  cannot  hide  the  delicate  and  shapely  outline  of  her 
feet,  leggins  of  deer-skin,  a  skirt  reaching  below  the  knee,  and  a 
cotton  chemise.  Her  head  has  no  covering  but  glossy  jet-black  hair, 
newly  washed  with  amole",  banged  in  front,  and  '  is  tricked  off  behind 
the  ears  in  the  shape  of  a  wheel  which  resembles  the  handle  of  a 
cup,' — the  distinguishing  fashion  of  maidenhood  now  as  it  was  more 
than  three  hundred  years  ago.  Tied  by  a  scarlet  cord  across  her 
forehead  is  a  pendant  of  opaline  shell,  the  lining  of  a  muscle  shell, 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


183 


doubtless  the  very  ornament  called  precious  pearl,  and  opal  which 
dazzled  the  eyes  and  stirred  the  covetous  hearts  of  the  first  conquis- 
tadores.  Our  Pueblo  belle  wraps  about  her  drapery  such  as  Caste- 
nada's  maiden  never  dreamed  of,  —  a  flowing  mantle  which  has 
followed  the  march  of  progress.  Thrown  across  the  left  shoulder 
and  drawn  under  her  bare  and  beautiful  right  arm  is  a  handsome  red 
blanket,  with  the  letters  U.  S.  woven  in  the  centre." 


PUEBLO  AND  CART 


The  above  represents  another  pueblo,  furnished  more  particularly 
here  to  show  the  sort  of  cart  which  the  Indians  use.  The  wheels 
are  sawed  from  logs,  as  has  been  the  custom  from  time  immemorial, 
affording  a  very  bungling  vehicle  in  comparison  with  the  modern  cart 
of  civilization.  Carts  were  not  used  at  all  until  within  sixty  years. 
The  burro  played  the  part  of  both  horse  and  cart.  "  Packing  "  the 
animal  with  his  load  was  done  by  experts.  Not  only  wood,  but 
almost  every  sort  of  merchandise,  was  carried  in  this  primitive  way. 
All  kinds  of  utensils  which  this  people  use  were  equally  primitive. 
The  plough  was  little  better  than  a  crooked  stick,  similar  to  the  plough 
of  Palestine.  Planting  and  reaping  were  accomplished  with  imple- 
ments equally  ancient.  And  it  is  substantially  so  now.  We  saw 
these  things  again  and  again  in  New  Mexico  four  years  ago. 


1 84 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  burro  has  proved  himself  to  be  a  very  useful  animal,  not  only 
to  Indian  people  described,  but  to  pioneers  generally  in  the  far  West. 
What  the  elephant  is  to  the  desert  plains  of  the  East,  that  has  been 


PRIMITIVE   AGRICULTURE. 


the  burro  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  of  the  West.  Strong,  obedi- 
ent, and  reliable,  he  submits  to  his  master  in  doing  very  hard  work, 
climbing  where  horses  can  never  go.  He  is  small,  about  the  size  of 
a  very  large  Newfoundland  dog,  perhaps  a  little  larger  on  the  aver- 
age ;  but  he  has  more  strength  and  endurance  than  his  size  indicates. 
On  the  whole  he  is  a  funny  little  fellow. 

Among  the  Indian  race  in  question  we  find  nothing  like  the 
wheelbarrow,  so  useful  to  the  laboring  class  of  modern  times.  The 
cut  on  the  following  page  is  the  nearest  approach  to  it. 

We  have  now  devoted  as  much 
space  as  we  have  to  spare  to  the 
Pueblo,  and  must  pass  to  the  Zuni 
and  Moquis,  whose  claim  of  direct 
connection  with  the  cliff-dwellers 
is  even  more  satisfactory  than  that 
of  the  Pueblos.  We  will  add,  how- 
ever, on  the  following  page,  a  sketch 
of  another  pueblo,  — that  of  Acoma, 
—  on  account  of  its  peculiarities. 

The  pueblo  of  Acoma  is  built 
upon  a  cliff  three  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  high,  and  can  be  reached  only 
by  clambering  up  the  debris  of  fal- 
len rocks,  and  then  following  the  steps  cut  in  the  solid  rock  up  to 
immense  timbers  that  have  been  placed  near  the  top.  Should  these 


BURRO    LOADED  WITH  WOOD. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


I85 


AN  ANCIENT  WHEELBARROW. 


timbers  be  precipitated  to  the  base  of  the  cliff,  it  would  be  impossible 

for  man  to  reach  the  dwellings. 

Mr.  Cozzens  says  :  "  About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  came 

in  sight  of  Acoma.     It  stands  upon  the  top  of  a  rock,  at  least  three 

hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the 
surrounding  plain,  and  seems 
from  its  situation  to  be  almost 
impregnable.  The  pueblo  can 
be  reached  only  by  means  of  a 
staircase,  containing  THREE 

HUNDRED       AND       SEVENTY-FIVE 

STEPS,  cut  in  the  solid  rock. 
At  the  upper  end  of  this  is  a  lad- 
der eighteen  feet  long,  made 
from  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  in 
which  notches  have  been  cut  for  the  feet. 

"The  town  is  composed  chiefly  of  blocks,  containing  sixty  or 
seventy  houses  each,  generally  three  stories  in  height.  .  .  .  The  peo- 
ple seem  to  be  industrious,  frugal,  and  happy.  We  found  them  kind 
and  hospitable,  and  anxious 
to  do  whatever  might  con- 
tribute to  our  comfort. 
Many  of  the  women  would 
not  have  been  uncomely  in 
appearance  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  they  padded 
their  legs  to  an  enormous 
size,  thus  rendering  them 
anything  but  attractive. 

"  The  governor  is  chosen 
from  the  old  men  by  uni- 
versal suffrage,  the  only 
qualification  necessary  be- 
ing wisdom.  He  holds  his 
office  during  life,  and  pre- 
sides over  the  council, 
which  is  composed  entirely 
of  old  men.  The  decision  of  this  official  is  regarded  as  law  in  all 
matters.  Next  in  rank  is  a  war-captain,  who  arranges  all  companies 
and  takes  charge  of  every  expedition.  He  also  exercises  supreme 
control  over  all  the  horses  belonging  to  the  pueblo.  Then  comes  the 


ACOMA. 


1 86 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


treasurer,  or  fiscal  chief,  who  has  charge  of  the  council  house,  church, 
etc.,  and  who  superintends  all  outlays  for  repairs,  and  exercises  a 
supervisory  power  over  all  expenditures  of  whatever  nature.  The 
government  of  Acoma  is  in  many  respects  similar  to  that  of  all  the 
pueblos,  and  is  universally  regarded  by  those  most  deeply  interested 
in  its  success,  as  a  very  beneficent  one."  l 

According  to  Coronado,  Pecos,  as  represented  below,  was  in  ruins 
in  1540.  Later  the  pueblo  was  rebuilt,  and  a  church  and  convent 
provided  ;  and,  two  hundred  years  ago,  the  population  exceeded  two 
thousand.  The  town  was  built  on  an  eminence,  and  was  strongly 


PECOS. 

fortified.  Judging  from  its  surroundings,  the  location  was  selected 
because  it  overlooked  the  country  for  many  miles,  and  the  approach 
of  enemies  could  be  discovered  in  season,  to  put  the  inhabitants  upon 
the  defensive. 

Cozzens  says :  "  The  Indian  legend  is,  that  Montezuma  built  this 
pueblo  himself,  and  with  his  own  hands  placed  the  sacred  fire  in  the 
estufa,  at  the  same  time  warning  his  people  that  when  they  allowed 
it  to  go  out,  death  would  come.  Before  he  left  them  he  took  a  tall  tree, 
and,  inverting  it,  planted  it  near  the  estufa,  saying,  if  they  did  not 
permit  the  sacred  flame  to  be  extinguished  until  the  tree  fell,  men 
with  pale  faces  would  come  into  the  country  from  the  east,  and,  over- 
running it,  would  drive  their  oppressors,  the  Spaniards,  from  the 
country,  when  he  himself  would  return  and  build  up  his  kingdom,  the 

1  Three  Years  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE,  187 

earth  should  become  fertile,  and  the  mountains  yield  rich  harvests  of 
gold  and  silver.  All  of  which  predictions,  these  Indians  claim,  have 
been  literally  fulfilled." 

ZUNIS. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  the  knowledge  of  this  strange  people 
which  Frank  H.  Gushing  has  given  to  the  public.  Mr.  Gushing  was 
sent  by  the  United  States  government,  in  1879,  to  learn  what  he 
could  of  this  tribe,  which  numbers  two  thousand.  It  was  expected 
that  he  would  accomplish  his  mission  and  return  in  about  three 
months.  But  he  has  dwelt  among  this  people  nearly  all  the  time 
since.  Indeed,  he  found  that  it  was  quite  impossible  to  learn  what 
he  desired  without  becoming  a  Zuni  himself.  So  he  adopted  their 
dress,  mode  of  living,  and  methods  of  worship,  in  order  to  be  admit- 
ted to  their  most  secret  conclaves. 

At  first  his  presence  was  clearly  annoying  to  them,  especially  to 
their  rulers.  He  used  his  note-book  and  sketch-book  freely,  which 
seemed  to  play  upon  their  superstitious  notions.  Evidently  they 
wanted  to  destroy  these.  Mr.  Gushing  says  :  — 

"  When  I  took  my  station  on  a  house-top,  sketch-books  and  colors 
in  hand,  I  was  surprised  to  see  frowns  and  hear  explosive,  angry  ex- 
postulations in  every  direction.  As  the  day  wore  on  this  indignation 
increased,  until  at  last  an  old,  bushy-headed  hag  approached  me,  and 
scowling  into  my  face  made  a  grab  at  my  book  and  pantomimically 
tore  it  to  pieces.  I  was  chagrined,  but  paid  no  attention  to  her, 
forced  a  good-natured  smile,  and  continued  my  sketching.  Discour- 
aged, yet  far  from  satisfied,  the  natives  made  no  further  demonstra- 
tions." 

He  made  slow  progress  in  getting  into  their  good  graces.  The 
note-book  and  sketch-book  proved  an  obstacle  to  a  very  intimate 
acquaintance.  Mr.  Gushing  continues  :  — 

"  I  was  determined  not  to  give  them  up,  but  was  desirous,  so  far 
as  possible,  of  conciliating  the  Indians.  I  therefore  began  with  the 
children.  They  would  scamper  up  ladders  and  stand  on  the  roof- 
tops as  I  passed,  but  for  all  that  had  a  lively  curiosity  concerning 
me,  and  would  shout  to  one  another,  '  Is-ta-skt,  Mc-lik-i-a  / '  -  —  which 
I  rightly  divined  was,  'Just  look,  the  little  American  is  coming  I ' 
I  began  carrying  sugar  and  pretty  trinkets  in  my  pockets,  and  when- 
ever I  could  tempt  some  of  them  near  with  a  lump  of  the  rare  deli- 
cacy, would  pat  them  on  the  head  and  give  them  the  pretty  trinkets, 


1 88  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

or  even  take  the  less  shy  and  dirty  of  them  in  my  arms.  I  grew  in 
their  favor,  and  within  a  few  days  had  a  crowd  of  them  always  at  my 
heels.  The  parents  were  delighted,  and  began  to  share  the  affection 
of  their  children.  Nevertheless,  the  next  time  I  sketched  a  dance, 
all  this  went  for  nothing. 

"  Much  discouraged,  at  last  I  determined  to  try  living  with  the 
Indians.  Accordingly,  I  moved  books,  papers,  and  blankets  to  the 
governor's  house.  On  the  dirt  floor  in  one  corner,  I  spread  the 
blankets,  and  to  the  rafters  slung  a  hammock.  When  the  old  chief 
came  in  that  evening  and  saw  that  I  had  made  myself  at  home,  he 
shrugged  his  shoulders. 

" '  How  long  will  it  be  before  you  go  back  to  Washington  ? '  he 
attempted  to  ask. 

"'Two  months,'  I  signified. 

" '  Tuh  ! '  (damn)  was  his  only  exclamation,  as  he  climbed  to  the 
roof  and  disappeared  through  the  sky-hole." 

Zuni  town  is  situated  in  the  desert  part  of  New  Mexico,  on  an 
eminence  from  which  a  good  view  of  the  surrounding  plain  is  had. 
It  is  reached  by  going  southwest  from  Fort  Mingate  across  a  spur  of 
the  Zuni  Mountain,  thence  along  the  Rio  Zuni  to  Ojode  Pescado. 
From  the  latter  place  it  is  a  weary  journey  over  scorching  sands  to 
Zuni.  The  area  of  the  town  is  about  half  a  square  mile,  and  streets 
are  well  laid  out,  running  at  right  angles.  The  houses  are  built  of 
adobe,  one,  two,  three,  and  even  six  stories  or  terraces.  Within  a 
few  years  ground-doors  have  been  cut  in  a  few  of  the  houses ;  but 
the  usual  mode  of  entrance  is  by  ladder  to  the  second  story,  thence 
inside  by  steps  up  and  down.  Some  of  the  dwellings  have  isinglass 
windows,  and  a  few  have  doors  hung  on  hinges.  On  each  floor  there 
are  several  apartments. 

Mr.  Gushing  describes  his  entrance  into  this  queer  town  as 
follows  :  — 

"  I  chanced  to  meet,  over  toward  the  river,  an  Indian.  He  was 
bareheaded,  his  hair  banged  even  with  his  eyebrows  in  front,  and 
done  up  in  a  neat  knot  behind,  with  long  locks  hanging  down  either 
side.  He  wore  a  red  shirt  and  white  cotton  pantalets,  slitted  at  the 
sides  from  the  knees  down  so  as  to  expose  his  bare,  legs,  and  raw- 
hide-soled moccasins.  Strings  of  shell-beads  around  his  neck,  and  a 
leather  belt  around  his  waist,  into  which  were  stuck  a  boomerang 
or  two,  completed  his  costume.  Knitting-work  in  hand,  he  left  his 
band  of  dirty  white  and  black  sheep  and  snuffling  goats  in  charge 
of  a  wise-looking,  grizzled-faced,  bob-tailed  mongrel  cur,  and  came 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


189 


with  a  sort  of  shuffling  dog-trot  toward  the  road,  calling  out,  '  Hai ! 
hai ! '  and  extending  his  hand  with  a  most  good-natured  smile. 
"  I  shook  the  proffered  hand  warmly,  and  said,  '  Zuni  ? ' 


190  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

" '  E  ! '  exclaimed  the  Indian,  as  he  reverentially  breathed  on  my 
hand  and  from  his  own,  and  then,  with  a  nod  of  his  head  and  a  fling 
of  his  chin  toward  the  still  distant,  smoky  terraces,  made  his  excla- 
mation more  intelligible. 

"  I  hastened  on  with  all  the  speed  I  could  scourge  out  of  my  obsti- 
nate, kicking  mule,  down  the  road  to  where  the  rivulet  crossed  it,  and 
up  again,  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  strange  structures. 

"  Imagine  numberless,  long,  box-shaped,  adobe  ranches,  connected 
with  one  another  in  extended  rows  and  squares,  with  others  less  and 
less  numerous,  piled  up  on  them  lengthwise  and  crosswise,  in  two, 
three,  even  six  stories,  each  receding  from  the  one  below  it  like  the 
steps  of  a  broken  stair-flight,  —  as  it  were,  a  gigantic  pyramidal  mud 
honey-comb  with  far  outstretching  base,  —  and  you  can  gain  a  fair 
conception  of  the  architecture  of  Zuni. 

"  Everywhere  this  structure  bristled  with  ladder-poles,  chimneys, 
and  rafters.  The  ladders  were  heavy  and  long,  with  carved  slab 
cross-pieces  at  the  tops,  and  leaned  at  all  angles  against  the  roofs. 
The  chimneys  looked  more  like  huge  bamboo-joints  than  anything 
else  I  can  compare  them  with,  for  they  were  made  of  bottomless 
earthen  pots,  set  one  upon  the  other  and  cemented  together  with 
mud,  so  that  they  stood  up,  like  many-lobed,  oriental  spires,  from 
every  roof-top.  Wonderfully  like  the  holes  in  an  ant-hill  seemed  the 
little  windows  and  doorways  which  everywhere  pierced  the  walls  of 
this  gigantic  habitation  ;  and  like  ant-hills  themselves  seemed  the 
curious  little  round-topped  ovens,  which  stood  here  and  there  along 
these  walls  or  on  the  terrace  edges. 

"All  round  the  town  could  be  seen  irregular,  large  and  small 
adobe  or  dried-mud  fences,  inclosing  gardens  in  which  melon,  pump- 
kin, and  squash  vines,  pepper-plants,  and  onions  were  most  conspic- 
uous. Forming  an  almost  impregnable  belt  nearer  the  village  were 
numerous  stock  corrals  of  bare  cedar  posts  and  sticks.  In  some  of 
these,  burros,  or  little  gray,  white-nosed,  black-shouldered  donkeys 
were  kept ;  while  many  others,  with  front  legs  tied  closely  together, 
were  nosing  about  over  the  refuse  heaps.  Bob-tailed  curs  of  all 
sizes,  a  few  swift-footed,  worried-looking  black  hogs,  some  scrawny 
chickens,  and  many  eagles,  —  the  latter  confined  in  wattled  stick 
cages,  diminutive  corrals,  in  the  corners  and  on  the  house-tops  — 
made  up  the  visible  life  about  the  place. 

"  Not  an  Indian  was  anywhere  to  be  seen,  save  on  the  topmost 
terraces  of  this  strange  city.  There  hundreds  of  them  were  congre- 
gated, gazing  so  intently  down  into  one  of  the  plazas  beyond,  that 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  IQ1 

none  of  them  observed  my  approach,  until  I  had  hastily  dismounted 
tied  my  mule  to  a  corral  post,  climbed  the  refuse-strewn  hill  and  twc 
or  three  ladders  leading  up  to  the  house-tops.  The  regular  thud, 
thud  of  rattles  and  drums,  the  cadence  of  rude  music  which  sounded 
more  like  the  soughing  of  a  storm-wind  amid  the  forests  of  a  moun- 
tain than  the  accompaniments  of  a  dance,  urged  me  forward,  until  I 
was  suddenly  confronted  by  forty  or  fifty  of  the  men,  who  came 
rushing  towards  me  with  excited  discussion  and  gesticulation.  One 
of  them  approached  and  spoke  something  in  Spanish,  motioning  me 
away  ;  but  I  did  not  understand  him,  so  I  grasped  his  hand  and 
breathed  on  it  as  I  had  seen  the  herder  do.  Lucky  thought !  The 
old  man  was  pleased,  smiled,  breathed  in  turn  on  my  hand,  and  then 
hastily  addressed  the  others,  who,  after  watching  me  with  approving 
curiosity,  gathered  around  to  shake  hands  and  exchange  breaths, 
until  I  might  have  regarded  myself  the  president,  had  not  an  uproar 
in  the  court  attracted  them  all  away  ;  all,  save  one,  a  young,  cadav- 
erous-looking fellow  with  strange,  monkey-like  little  eyes,  who  lin- 
gered behind  and  ventured  :  — 

"  '  How.-li-loo  ? ' 

"  '  Pretty  well,'  I  replied.     '  How  are  you  ? ' 

"'At's  good,'  said  he;  and  this  useful  phrase  he  employed  in 
every  answer  to  my  crowded  queries,  until  I  reluctantly  concluded 
that  it  was  the  extent  of  his  English." 

The  people  were  engaged  in  a  "sacred  dance"  when  Mr.  Gushing 
and  his  party  arrived.  They  lost  no  time  in  pitching  their  tent  and 
going  into  camp.  They  had  scarcely  got  settled  when  two  or  three 
Indians  came  into  the  tent  and  squatted  on  their  haunches  near  the 
entrance.  Mr.  Gushing  gave  them  cigarettes,  which  they  smoked  as 
if  they  enjoyed  them.  They  were  great  talkers,  and  jolly.  Later, 
the  gubernador,  Palowahtiwa,  called.  He  was  the  chief  or  governor. 
Several  sub-chiefs  and  the  herald  of  the  town  came  with  him.  A 
friendly  interview  was  enjoyed,  and  the  governor  retired,  professing 
high  regard  for  "Americans." 

Mr.  Gushing  describes  Zuni  by  saying  :  "  Every  schoolboy  sketches 
a'  map  of  the  Zuni  basin,  when  he  attempts  with  uncertain  stroke  to 
draw  on  his  slate  a  cart-wheel.  The  city  itself  represents  the  jagged 
hub,  whence  the  radiating,  wavering  traits  form  the  spokes,  and  the 
surrounding  mesas  and  hills  the  rim.  Let  some  crack  across  the 
slate  and  through  the  middle  of  the  picture  indicate  the  river,  and 
your  map  is  complete." 

Unlike   the  nomadic   tribes  of  the  West,  the  Zunis   arc  a  very 


192 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


industrious  people.  They  understand  agriculture  and  pursue  it,  rais- 
ing wheat,  corn,  and  vegetables  quite  largely.  Pumpkins,  onions, 
and  watermelons  are  their  favorites.  The  donkey  serves  them  for 
a  beast  of  burden  ;  and  they  raise  cattle  and  sheep,  weaving  the  wool 
of  the  latter  into  garments.  Until  recently  they  produced  all  the 
cloth  that  was  worn  by  the  tribe.  Now,  the  visitor  sees  occasionally 
American  goods,  which  traffic  has  brought  to  them.  They  under- 
stand the  art  of  pottery,  and  produce  jars  and  other  vessels  of  attrac- 
tive design.  The  goat  is  an  important  domestic  animal  among  them, 
and  fowl  of  all  kinds  are  raised.  The  eagle  is  a  sacred  bird,  and 
large  numbers  of  them  are  seen  about  the  town. 


ZUNI   ALTARS  AND   INCANTATION    SCENE. 


Francis  Pilett,  who  has  visited  the  tribe,  says  :  — 
"  Each  dwelling  is  provided  with  a  loom,  which  forms  a  conspic- 
uous part  of  the  furniture.  It  consists  of  two  sticks,  between  which 
the  threads,  of  the  width  of  the  blanket  to  be  made,  are  spread,  the 
whole  arrangement  being  fastened  to  the  floor  and  ceiling  by  raw- 
hide strings.  The  operator  squats  on  the  ground,  using  for  a  shuttle 
a  stick  to  which  the  wool  for  the  cross-threads  is  fastened.  The 
operation  of  weaving  is  skilfully  performed,  although  a  long  time  is 
required  in  the  manufacture  of  one  of  their  blankets." 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


193 


The  Zuni  altars  are  very  sacred  to  them.  If  they  do  not  take 
their  shoes  from  their  feet  as  they  approach  them,  they  do  what  is 
far  more  expressive  of  reverence  and  solemnity.  The  enclosure  con- 
taining an  altar  is  represented  by  a  cut  on  the  preceding  page,  and 
no  one  is  allowed  to  enter  it  until  the  grave  official  conducting  them 
takes  a  small  quantity  of  white  powder  from  a  bag  suspended  from 
his  neck,  and,  placing  it  upon  a  silver  plate  which  hangs  on  his  girdle, 
blows  it  into  the  air,  accompanied  with  some  strange  mutterings  of 

incantation,  after 
which  the  visitor 
may-  enter.  The 
meaning  of  this  per- 
formance is  simply 
this  :  it  is  an  invoca- 
tion to  the  spirit  of 
Montezuma  to  re- 
turn soon  and  fulfil 
his  promise  to  bless 
and  lead  them.  No 
one  but  the  high- 
priest  knows  where 
the  white  powder 
comes  from  nor  what 
it  is. 

Outside  the  town, 
though  near  by,  is 
a  large  farm  on 
which  vegetables  are 
raised.  It  is  divided 
into  patches,  or  gar- 
dens, one  for  each 
family,  as  represen- 
ted by  the  cut ;  and 

here  much  labor  is  expended.  The  farm  is  watered  by  irrigation, 
which  this  people  appear  to  understand,  the  Rio  Zuni  furnishing  the 
water. 

The  Zunis  hate  the  Mexicans,  but  respect  Americans.  The  gover- 
nor said  to  Mr.  Pilett  :  "The  Americans  treat  us  well,  but  the  Mexi- 
cans very  badly  ;  the  latter  have  always  maltreated  us,  and  we  want 
them  neither  to  go  through  our  country  nor  to  reside  among  us.  The 
heavens  punish  us  by  long  drought  for  allowing  them  to  remain  in 


ZUNI   VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


194 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


the  Colorado  Chiquito.  My  cacique,  who  prays  for  rain,  and  who  is 
the  spiritual  and  imperial  ruler  of  this  people,  watches  the  sun  daily, 
and  is  much  distressed  because  no  rain  falls.  He  attributes  the 
drought  to  the  presence  of  the  Mexicans  on  our  soil." 

Mr.  Pilett  also  relates  the  following  :  — 

"  The  governor  very  cheerfully  and  politely  accompanied  us 
through  the  village.  As  the  cachina  dancers  came  in  sight,  and  we 
halted  to  witness  the  ceremony,  an  elderly  man  approached  and  re- 
monstrated with  the  governor  for  allowing  us  to  look  upon  this  form 
of  worship.  In  reply  to  the  remonstrance,  Pedro  Pino  informed  the 


ZUNI   FARM-HOUSE. 


intruder  that  he  would  allow  us  ;  '  but,'  said  he,  '  no  Mexican  shall  ever 
look  upon  the  performance  of  this  holy  and  sacred  rite.  The  Ameri- 
cans,' he  continued,  '  have  ever  been  our  friends,  and  are  good  and 
excellent  people.  I  have  been  in  Washington,  and  have  seen  such 
men  as  Monroe  and  Calhoun,  and  have  been  in  the  halls  of  Congress. 
These  men,'  pointing  to  us,  '  come  from  Washington,  and  I  know 
they  are  good  men.' ' 

The  above  is  a  good  representation  of  a  Zufti  farm-house,  built  of 
adope,  of  course,  and  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is 
erected.  Near  it  are  the  faithful  donkeys,  with  their  burdens,  and  a 
sample  of  the  Zuni  cart.  In  summer,  half  of  the  tribe  remove  into 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  195 

the  country  to  cultivate  their  farms,  the  families  dwelling  apart  from 
each  other,  or  in  small  settlements. 

Mr.  Gushing  discovered  that  there  were  thirteen  orders  or  socie- 
ties in  the  tribe,  some  of  them  strictly  secret,  and  no  white  man  had 
ever  witnessed  their  ceremonial.  But  he  succeeded  in  getting  into 
them  by  dint  of  perseverance  and  strategy.  He  speaks  of  them  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Functionally  they  are  divisible  into  four  classes  :  Those  of  War, 
of  the  Priesthood,  of  Medicine,  and  of  the  Chase ;  yet  the  elements 
of  every  one  of  these  classes  may  be  traced  in  each  of  all  the  others. 

"Of  the  first  class  (Martial)  there  is  but  one  society  —  the  '  A-pi- 
thlan-shi-wa-ni,'  or  the  '  Priests  of  the  Bow,'  at  once  the  most  power- 
ful and  the  most  perfectly  organized  of  all  native  associations,  in 
some  respects  resembling  the  Masonic  order,  being  strictly  secret  or 
esoteric ;  it  is  possessed  of  twelve  degrees,  distinguished  by  distinc- 
tive badges. 

"Of  the  second  class  (Ecclesiastical)  there  is  also  but  one  order  — 
the  '  Shi-wa-ni-kwe,'  or  society  of  priests,  of  the  utmost  sacred  impor- 
tance, yet  less  strictly  secret  than  the  first. 

"  Of  the  third  class  (Medical)  are  the  '  Ka-shi-kwe  '  and  '  A-tchi-a- 
kwe,'  or  cactus  and  knife  orders  —  the  martial  and  civil  surgeons  of 
the  nation  ;  the  '  Ne-we-kwe  '  and  '  Thle-we-kwe,'  or  the  gourmands 
and  stick-swallowers  ;  '  Bearers  of  the  Wand,'  who  treat  diseases  of 
the  digestive  system  ;  the  '  Ka-ka-thla-na-kwe '  and  '  Ma-ke-thla-na- 
kwe,'  or  grand  ka-ka  (dance)  and  grand  fire  orders,  who  treat  inflam- 
matory diseases  ;  the  '  Ma-ke-tsa-na-kwe  '  and  '  Pe-sho-tsi-lo-kwe,'  or 
the  lesser  fire  and  insect  orders,  who  treat  burns,  ulcers,  cancers, 
and  parasitic  complaints;  the  '  U-hu-hu-kwe,'  or  'Ahem'  (cough) 
order,  who  treat  colds,  etc.  ;  and  lastly,  the  '  Tchi-to-la-kwe,'  or  rattle- 
snake order,  who  treat  the  results  of  poisoning,  actual  or  supposed, 
resulting  from  sorcery  or  venomous  wounds. 

"Of  the  fourth  class  (Hunters)  there  is  again  but  one  order  —  the 
'  San-ia-k'ia-kwe,'  or  '  Tus-ki-kwe,'  blood  or  coyote  order  —  the  hunters 
of  the  nation. 

"  To  all  these  a  fourteenth  organization  might  be  added,  were  it 
not  too  general  to  be  regarded  as  esoteric,  notwithstanding  its  opera- 
tions are  strictly  secret  and  sacred.  I  refer  to  the  much  quoted, 
misspelled,  and  otherwise  abused  'Ka-ka,'  'the  Dance,'  which  is 
wonderfully  perfect  in  structure,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  national 
church,  and,  like  the  church  with  ourselves,  is  rather  a  sect  than  a 
society. 


196  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  Perhaps  the  Priesthood  of  the  Bow  is  the  only  truly  esoteric  of 
all  these  bodies,  since  members  of  it  may  be  admitted  to  meetings 
of  all  the  others,  while  members  of  the  other  societies  are  strictly 
excluded  from  the  meetings  of  this. 

"  Early  learning  this,  I  strove  for  nearly  two  years  to  gain  member- 
ship in  it,  which  would  secure  at  once  standing  with  the  tribe  and 
entrance  to  all  sacred  meetings,  as  well  as  eligibility  to  the  Head 
Chieftaincies.  We  succeeded,  and  the  memory  of  my  experience 
in  this  connection  is  a  deeply  interesting  chapter  of  my  life." 

Mr.  Gushing  was  a  Zuni  now  so  far  as  dress  could  make  him. 
But  there  was  other  experience  for  him  before  he  could  be  fully 
established  in  the  confidence  of  the  tribe.  The  Governor  confided 
in  him,  and  insisted  upon  calling  him,  "  My  little  Brother."  He 
demanded,  also,  that  Mr.  Gushing  should  call  him  "My  old  Brother." 
This  additional  experience  he  rehearsed  thus  :  — 

"  One  evening,  the  Governor  beckoned  me  to  follow,  as  he  led  the 
way  into  the  mud-plastered  little  room,  whither  he  had  unearthed  my 
head-band.  In  one  corner  stood  a  forge,  over  which  a  blanket  had 
been  spread.  All  trappings  had  been  removed,  and  the  floor  had 
been  freshly  plastered.  A  little  arched  fireplace  in  the  corner  oppo- 
site the  forge  was  aglow  with  pinon,  which  lighted  even  the  smoky 
old  rafters  and  the  wattled  willow  ceiling.  Two  sheepskins  and  my 
few  belongings,  a  jar  of  water,  and  a  wooden  poker  were  all  the  fur- 
nishings. 'There,'  said  he,  'now  you  have  a  little  house,  what  more 
do  you  want  ?  Here,  take  these  two  blankets,  — they  are  all  you  can 
have.  If  you  get  cold,  take  off  all  your  clothes  and  sleep  next  to  the 
sheepskins,  and  think  you  are  warm,  as  the  Zuni  does.  You  must 
sleep  in  the  cold  and  on  a  hard  bed  ;  that  will  harden  your  meat. 
And  you  must  never  go  to  Dust-eye's  house  [the  Mission],  or  to 
Black-beard's  [the  trader's]  to  eat ;  for  I  want  to  make  a  Zuni  of  you. 
How  can  I  do  that  if  you  eat  American  food  ? '  With  this  he  left  me 
for  the  night. 

"  I  suffered  immeasurably  that  night.  The  cold  was  intense,  and 
the  pain  from  my  hard  bed  excruciating.  Although  next  morning, 
with  a  mental  reservation,  I  told  the  Governor  I  had  passed  a  good 
night,  yet  I  insisted  on  slinging  my  hammock  lengthwise  of  the  little 
room.  To  this  the  Governor's  reply  was  :  '  It  would  not  be  good  for 
it  to  hang  in  a  smoky  room,  so  I  have  packed  it  away.'  I  resigned 
myself  to  my  hard  fate  and  harder  bed,  and  suffered  throughout  long 
nights  of  many  weeks  rather  than  complain  or  show  any  unwilling- 
ness to  have  my  '  meat  hardened.' 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  197 

"An  old  priest,  whom  I  had  seen  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  dances, 
and  whose  fine  bearing  and  classic,  genial  face  had  impressed  me, 
used  to  come  and  chat  occasionally  of  an  evening  with  the  Governor, 
in  the  other  room.  Often,  as  he  sat  in  the  fire-light,  his  profile 
against  the  blazing  background  made  me  wonder  if  the  ghost  of 
Dante  had  not  displaced  the  old  Indian  for  a  moment,  so  like  the 
profile  of  the  great  poet  was  the  one  I  looked  upon.  He  had  con- 
ceived a  great  affection  for  me,  and  his  visits  became  more  and  more 
frequent,  until  at  last  one  day  he  told  me  his  name  was  Laf-iu-ah- 
tsai-lun-kia,  but  that  I  must  forget  his  name  whenever  I  spoke  to 
him,  and  call  him  'father.'  Now  that  I  wore  the  head-band  and 
moccasins  of  his  people,  his  attentions  were  redoubled,  and  he 
insisted  constantly  that  I  should  dress  entirely  in  the  native  costume, 
and  have  my  ears  pierced.  That  would  make  a  complete  Zuni  of 
me,  for  had  I  not  eaten  Zuni  food  long  enough  to  have  starved  four 
times,  and  was  not  my  flesh,  therefore,  of  the  soil  of  Zuni  ? ' 

"  I  strongly  opposed  his  often  repeated  suggestions,  and  at  last  he 
so  rarely  made  them  that  I  thought  he  had  altogether  given  up  the 
idea. 

"  One  day,  however,  the  Governor's  wife  came  through  the  door- 
way with  a  dark  blue  bundle  of  cloth,  and  a  long,  embroidered  red 
belt.  She  threw  the  latter  on  the  floor,  and  unrolled  the  former, 
which  proved  to  be  a  strip  of  diagonal  stuff  about  five  feet  long  by 
a  yard  in  width.  Through  the  middle  a  hole  was  cut,  and  to  the 
edges,  either  side  of  this  hole,  were  stitched  with  brightly  colored 
strips  of  fabric,  a  pair  of  sleeves.  With  a  patronizing  smile,  the  old 
woman  said :  — 

"  '  Put  this  on.  Your  brother  will  make  you  a  pair  of  breeches, 
and  then  you  will  be  a  handsome  young  man.' 

"  Under  her  instructions  I  stuck  my  head  through  the  central 
hole,  pushed  my  arms  down  into  the  little  blanket  sleeves,  and  gath- 
ered the  ends  around  my  waist,  closely  securing  them  with  the 
embroidered  belt.  The  sudden  appearance  of  the  Governor  was  the 
signal  for  the  hasty  removal  of  the  garment.  He  folded  it  up  and 
put  it  away  under  the  blanket  on  the  forge.  Long  before  night  he 
had  completed  a  pair  of  shoit,  thin,  black  cotton  trousers,  and 
secured  a  pair  of  long,  knitted  blue  woollen  leggins. 

" '  Take  off  that  blue  coat  and  rag  necklace,'  said  he,  referring  to 
my  blue  flannel  shirt  and  a  tie  of  gray  silk.  '  What !  another  coat 
under  that.  Take  it  off.' 

"  I  removed  it. 


1 98  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

" '  There,  now !  Go  over  into  that  corner  and  put  these  breeches 
on.  Don't  wear  anything  under  them.' 

"Then  the  coarse  woollen  blanket  shirt  was  again  put  on  as 
before,  only  next  to  my  skin.  There  were  no  seams  in  this  remark- 
able garment,  save  where  the  sleeves  were  attached  to  the  shoulders, 
and  from  the  elbows  down  to  the  wrists.  The  sides,  a  little  below 
the  armpits,  and  the  arms  inside  down  to  the  elbow,  were  left 
entirely  exposed.  I  asked  the  Governor  if  I  could  not  wear  the 
under-coat. 

" '  No,'  said  he.  '  Didn't  I  say  you  must  have  your  meat 
hardened  ? ' 

"  Fortunately,  however,  a  heavy  gray  scrape,  striped  with  blue  and 
black,  and  fringed  with  red  and  blue,  was  added  to  this  costume,. 
One  of  the  young  men  gave  me  a  crude  copper  bracelet,  and  the  old 
priest  presented  me  with  one  or  two  strings  of  black  stone  beads  for 
a  necklace. 

"  The  first  time  I  appeared  in  the  streets  in  full  costume  the  Zunis 
were  delighted.  Little  children  gathered  around  me  ;  old  women 
patronizingly  bestowed  compliments  on  me  as  their  'new  son,  the 
child  of  Wa-sin-to-na.'  I  found  the  impression  was  good,  and  per- 
mitted the  old  Governor  to  have  his  way.  In  fact,  it  would  have 
been  rather  difficult  to  have  done  otherwise,  for,  on  returning  to  my 
room,  I  found  that  every  article  of  civilized  clothing  had  disappeared 
from  it." 

But  his  ears  were  not  yet  pierced,  for  he  steadily  opposed  it. 
Thinking,  however,  that  there  might  be  some  meaning  or  significance 
in  the  operation  which  he  might  learn,  he  submitted.  Boring  the 
ear  was  attended  with  imposing  ceremonials,  closing  with  a  long 
prayer,  in  which  he  was  recommended  to  the  gods  as  a  "  Child  of  the 
Sun."  The  Zunis  are  not  Catholics,  but  sun-worshippers.  At  the 
close  of  the  ceremony,  the  Governor  said  :  — 

"  And  thus  become  thou  my  son,  Te-na-tsa-li."     His  wife  added  :  — 

"  This  day  thou  art  made  my  younger  brother,  Te-na-tsa-li." 

Other  members  of  the  group  came  forward,  repeating  some  part  of 
the  ceremonial,  and  closing  with  the  repetition  of  his  new  name, 
"Te-na-tsa-li."  Then  the  Governor  led  him  to  the  window,  and 
said :  — 

"  You  are  named  after  a  magical  plant  which  grows  on  a  single 
mountain  in  the  west,  the  flowers  of  which  are  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  world,  and  of  many  colors  ;  and  the  roots  and  juices  of  it  are  a 
panacea  for  all  injuries  to  the  flesh  of  man.  By  this  name,  which 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  199 

only  one  man  in  a  generation  can  bear,  you  will  be  known  as  long 
as  the  sun  rises  and  sets,  and  smiles  on  the  Corn  people  of  earth,  as 
a  Shi-wi  (Zufii)." 

The  Zunis  are  extremely  hospitable.  They  have  no  beds  to  offer 
a  visitor,  but  a  plenty  of  nice  blankets.  They  have  few  luxuries  to 
set  before  a  guest,  but  good  bread  and  meat  in  abundance.  Their 
furniture  is  scanty,  but  the  visitor  can  always  find  a  seat  on  the  plas- 
tered floor.  Their  language  is  much  like  that  of  the  Pueblos,  a  sort 
of  monkey-chatter,  but  their  gesticulations  and  facial  contortions  gen- 
erally make  its  meaning  plain.  Their  dress,  too,  is  civilized,  though 
homespun.  Of  this,  Mr.  Pilett  says  :  — 

"  Their  dress  is  simple,  that  of  the  men  being  merely  cotton  draw- 
ers and  shirt,  with  blue  woollen  stockings  of  their  own  manufacture  ; 
a  turban  of  wool  or  cotton  completes  the  male  attire.  The  females 
wear  a  gown  of  wool,  held  at  the  waist  by  a  sash  of  the  same  mate- 
rial ;  the  arms  and  shoulders  are  left  bare ;  their  stockings  same  as 
those  worn  by  the  men  ;  for  shoes,  both  males  and  females  wear  moc- 
casins of  buckskin.  When  in  the  street,  the  women  cover  the  head 
and  shoulders  with  a  white  cloth." 

Mr.  Gushing  took  advantage  of  his  transformation  into  a  Zuni, 
to  learn  the  secrets  of  the  tribe,  domestic,  social,  and  religious. 
Of  course  he  learned  many  curious  things  ;  and  we  shall  close  this 
account  by  quoting  his  description  of  one  of  the  festivals  he  wit- 
nessed. 

We  turn  aside,  however,  to  give  the  opinion  of  a  writer  who  speaks 
from  personal  knowledge  of  the  antiquity  of  this  people.  "  We  are 
enabled  to  locate  the  Zufii  tribe  as  far  back  as  1456,"  he  says,  "and 
as  their  traditions  point  to  a  westward  origin,  we  may,  we  think,  safely 
conclude  that  the  chain  of  ancient  villages  remarked  by  us  between 
the  Rio  Verde  and  Camp  Apache,  Arizona,  as  well  as  the  caves  near 
the  Verde  —  still  strewn  with  fragments  of  pottery,  some  of  which  is 
identical  with  that  still  in  use  by  the  Zunis  —  were  occupied  by  this 
people  centuries  before  the  appearance  of  Columbus  on  the  eastern 
coast ;  but  whether  this  is  an  indigenous  civilization,  or  of  Toltec, 
Aztec,  or  Asiatic  origin,  it  seems  quite  impossible,  in  the  light  of 
present  knowledge,  to  determine.  The  theories  concerning  the  gene- 
sis of  the  Aztecs  and  Toltecs  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the  writers 
on  that  subject." 

Also,  their  traditions,  as  far  as  Mr.  Pilett  was  able  to  understand, 
he  puts  briefly  thus  :  — 

"The  traditions  of  the  Zufii  are  few  and  simple.     They  say  their 


200  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

people  came  from  the  northwest  on  their  march  southward ;  that  all 
Pueblo  Indians  belong  to  a  common  race,  and  are  all  members  of  the 
large  families  called  Aztecs,  or  Montezumas  ;  that  some  of  their  fore- 
fathers remained  behind  in  the  great  migration  of  the  nation,  while 
the  large  body  pursued  a  southerly  course,  ultimately  forming  the 
mighty  empire  of  Mexico,  as  found  by  Cortez  after  its  conquest ;  that, 
long  before  the  white  man  came,  their  people  inhabited  the  mesa  south 
of  their  town.  They  have  traditions,  also,  of  a  flood  ;  of  the  founding 
of  their  present  pueblo ;  of  their  war  with  the  Spaniards,  and  their 
subjugation,  by  the  latter,  for  a  time  ;  of  the  arrival  of  the  first  Amer- 
ican in  New  Mexico,  and  of  the  Mexican  and  Navajo  War.  But  their 
knowledge  of  these  events  is  merely  outline,  they  being  unable  to 
give  any  details." 

All  explorers  agree  that  Zufii  life  strikingly  resembles  ancient  life 
in  Palestine.  The  manners  and  customs,  methods  of  doing  work, 
implements  of  husbandry,  women  carrying  jars  of  water  upon  their 
heads,  and  other  things,  are  suggestive  of  style  of  life  once  lived  in 
the  Holy  Land.  Mr.  Gushing  says,  "As  I  sat  watching  the  women 
coming  and  going  to  and  from  the  well,  '  How  strangely  parallel,'  I 
thought,  'have  been  the  lines  of  development  in  this  curious  civiliza- 
tion of  an  American  desert,  with  those  of  Eastern  nations  and  des- 
erts.' Clad  in  blanket  dresses,  mantles  thrown  gracefully  over  their 
heads,  each  with  a  curiously  decorated  jar  in  her  hand,  they  came  one 
after  another  down  the  crooked  path.  A  little  passage-way  through 
the  gardens,  between  two  adobe  walls  to  our  right,  led  down  rude 
steps  into  the  well,  which,  dug  deeply  in  the  sands,  had  been  walled 
up  with  rocks,  like  the  pools  of  Palestine,  and  roofed  over  with  reeds 
and  dirt.  Into  this  passage-way  and  down  to  the  dark,  covered  spring 
they  turned,  or  lingered  outside  to  gossip  with  new-comers  while 
awaiting  their  chances,  meanwhile  slyly  watching,  from  under  their 
black  hair,  the  strange  visitors  from  '  Wa-sin-to-na.'  These  water- 
carriers  were  a  picturesque  sight,  as  with  stately  step  and  fine  carriage 
they  followed  one  another  up  into  the  evening  light,  balancing  their 
great  shining  water-jars  on  their  heads." 

To  return  from  this  digression  to  the  festival  which  Mr.  Gushing 
describes.  Eighteen  days  before,  the  Governor  said  to  him,  "  Little 
brother,  make  your  heart  glad  ;  a  great  festival  is  now  every  one's 
thought.  Eighteen  days  more,  and  from  the  west  will  come  the 
Sha-la-k'o ;  it  welcomes  the  return  of  the  Ka-ka  and  speeds  the 
departure  of  the  Sun.  Make  your  heart  glad,  for  you  shall  see  it 
too." 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  2OI 

There  was  great  opposition  to  his  witnessing  this  festival ;  but  the 
decision  of  the  Governor,  who  had  become  strongly  attached  to  his 
ward,  settled  the  matter  ;  whereupon  he  was  instructed  as  follows  :  — 

" '  When  you  go  in,  little  brother,  you  must  breathe  on  your  hand, 
and,  as  you  step  into  the  fire-light,  you  must  say,  "  My  fathers,  how 
are  you  these  many  days  ?  "  They  will  reply,  "  Happy,  happy !  "  You 
must  not  touch  one  of  them,  nor  utter  a  single  word  in  Spanish  or 
American,  nor  whistle.  But  you  must  behave  very  gravely,  for  it  is 
dk-ta-ni  [fearful]  in  the  presence  of  the  gods.  If  you  should  happen 
to  forget,  and  say  a  Spanish  word,  hold  out  your  left  hand  and  then 
your  right,  one  foot  and  then  the  other,  and  they  will  strike  them 
very  hard  with  a  wand  of  yucca.' 

"The  messenger  guided  me  to  the  low  door,  which  I  entered, 
breathing  audibly  on  my  hand.  Stepping  into  the  brightly  light- 
ed centre  of  the  room,  I  started  off  very  well  with,  '  My  fathers/ 
(Horn  a  td-tchii),  but  here  broke  down  ;  and,  placing  the  candles  and 
tobacco  on  the  floor,  with  a  muttered  apology,  I  unfortunately  finished 
partly  in  Spanish.  Instantly  two  or  three  of  the  sprawling  priests 
started  up  exclaiming  '  Shu  !  shu  !  '  and  stretched  their  hands  excit- 
edly toward  me.  One  of  them  took  a  wand  from  the  front  of  the 
altar,  and  gravely  advanced  toward  me.  Without  a  word,  I  stretched 
out  my  hand,  and  he  hit  me  a  terrific  blow  directly  across  the  wrist. 
Never  wincing,  however,  although  the  pain  was  excruciating,  I 
stretched  out  the  other  hand  and  my  two  feet  in  succession,  receiving 
the  hard  blows  on  each.  I  breathed  on  my  hand,  and  said,  E-lah-kwa 
(thanks  !).  The  priest  spat  on  the  wand,  smiled,  and  waved  it  four 
or  five  times  around  my  head.  The  white-haired  father  of  the  ten 
then  approached  me,  placed  his  finger  on  his  lips  as  a  warning, 
thanked  me  for  the  presents,  and  asked  that  the  '  light  of  the  gods 
might  shine  on  my  path  of  life.'  But  he  directed  that  I  be  hustled 
away,  for  fear  I  might  commit  some  other  indiscretion. 

"  I  had  gained  my  object,  however,  in  merely  entering  the  room. 
It  was  large.  At  the  western  end  stood  an  altar,  composed  of  tablets 
of  various  heights  and  widths,  strangely  carved  and  painted  in  repre- 
sentation of  gods,  and  set  up  in  the  form  of  a  square.  At  the  back 
were  larger  tablets,  on  and  through  which  figures  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars  were  painted  and  cut.  Within  the  square  stood  a  number 
of  sacred  wands  of  long  macaw  feathers  inserted  into  beautiful  wicker- 
work  handles.  Overhead  hung  the  figure  of  a  winged  god,  a  little 
in  front  of  and  below  which  was  suspended  horizontally  an  elaborate 
cross.  It  was  composed  of  two  tablets,  carved  to  zigzag  points  at  the 


202  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

ends,  and  joined  at  the  centre,  so  as  to  resemble  a  wind-mill  with  four 
arms.  Numerous  eagle  plumes  depended  from  the  lower  edges  of 
the  four  arms,  on  each  of  which  was  perched  the  effigy  of  a  swallow. 
Underneath  this  stood  a  large  medicine-bowl  with  terraced  edges.  It 
was  crowded  with  figures  of  frogs,  tadpoles,  and  dragon-flies,  and  con- 
tained a  clear,  yellowish  fluid.  Over  this  two  of  the  priests  were 
crouching  and  muttering  incantations.  Behind  the  altar,  partly  cov- 
ered with  little  embroidered  cotton  kilts,  were  the  warty  masks  and  the 
neck-cloths  of  these  priestly  clowns.  Almost  immediately  on  enter- 
ing, my  guide  had  uttered  prayers  and  scattered  medicine  flour  over 
them.  All  along  the  walls  of  the  great  room,  now  vivid  in  the  fire- 
light, now  indistinct  in  the  flickering  shadows,  were  painted  in  red, 
green,  blue,  and  yellow,  the  figures  of  animals,  birds,  human  mon- 
sters, demons,  and  significant  pictographs. 

"  This  little  glimpse  revealed  to  me  a  mysterious  life  by  which  I 
had  little  dreamed  I  was  surrounded,  and  I  looked  forward  with  curi- 
ous anxiety  to  the  coming  ceremonials. 

"  That  night,  on  my  way  home,  I  saw  great  fires  blazing  on  the 
southwestern  hills.  I  could  hear  the  sound  of  rattles,  and  the  long, 
weird  cries  of  the  dancers,  whose  forms  were  too  distant  to  be  seen 
even  against  the  snow-sprinkled  slopes.  'The  Long-horn  and  the 
Hooter,  the  wand-bearers  and  the  sacred  guardians,  whom  you  shall 
see  four  days  hence,'  said  my  brother,  as  he  opened  the  door  to  let 
me  in,  and  motioned  with  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the  sounds. 

"During  the  next  day,  hundreds  of  Navajos,  Moquis,  and  Indians 
from  the  Rio  Grande  pueblos,  gathered  in  from  the  surrounding  coun- 
try. Everybody  was  busy.  Oxen  were  slaughtered  by  the  dozen, 
sheep  by  the  hundred.  In  every  household  some  of  the  men  could 
be  seen  sewing  garments  both  for  themselves  and  the  women.  The 
latter  were  busily  engaged  in  grinding  corn,  cooking  paper-bread  over 
great  polished,  black  stones,  cutting  up  meat,  bringing  water,  and 
weaving  new  blankets  and  belts.  Outside,  continual  streams  of 
burros,  heavily  laden  with  wood,  came  pouring  in  from  the  surround- 
ing mesas. 

"  Toward  evening,  on  the  second  day  following,  people  began  to 
gather  all  over  the  southern  terraces,  and  away  out  over  the  plain 
there  appeared  seven  gigantic,  black-headed  white  forms,  towering 
high  above  their  crowd  of  attendants.  Gradually  they  came  toward 
the  pueblo,  stopping,  however,  midway  in  the  plain  across  the  river, 
to  perform  some  curious  ceremonials.  Meanwhile,  eight  remarkably 
costumed  figures  preceded  them,  crossed  the  river,  and  passed  along 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  203 

the  western  end  of  the  pueblo.  These  were  the  same  the  Governor 
had  told  me  of.  The  'Long-horn'  and  the  'Hooter'  were  clothed 
in  embroidered  white  garments,  and  their  faces  were  covered  by  hor- 
rible ghastly,  white  masks,  with  square,  black  eye  and  mouth-holes. 
Their  head-dresses  were  distinguished  from  each  other  only  by  the 
large  white  appendages,  like  bat-ears,  attached  to  one  of  them,  while 
the  other  was  furnished  with  a  long  green  horn,  from  which  depended 
a  fringe  of  wavy  black  hair,  tufts  of  which  covered  the  heads  of  both. 
They  bore  in  their  right  hands  clattering  rattles  made  from  the  shoul- 
der-blades of  deer,  and  in  their  left,  painted  plumed  sticks.  Follow- 
ing came  two  red-bodied,  elaborately  costumed  and  ornamented  char- 
acters wearing  round,  green  helmets,  across  the  tops  of  which  were 
attached  painted  round  sticks  with  shell-rattles  at  either  end.  They 
bore  in  their  hands  white  deer-horns  and  plumed  sticks,  and  were, 
with  the  others,  guarded  by  two  nearly  nude  figures  with  round- 
topped,  long-snouted  red  masks,  surrounded  at  the  neck  by  collars  of 
crow-feathers.  They  carried  rattles  like  those  of  the  chief  figures, 
and  long  yucca  wands  with  which  to  chastise  spectators  who  might 
approach  too  near. 

"  All  of  these  were  preceded  by  a  gorgeously  costumed,  bare- 
headed priest, .with  streaks  of  black,  shining  paint  across  his  eyes 
and  chin,  and  profusely  decorated  with  turquois  ear-rings  and  shell 
necklaces.  A  snow-white  deerskin  mantle  was  thrown  gracefully 
over  his  shoulders,  and  trailed  in  the  dust  behind.  He  carried  a 
tray  of  sacred  plumes  in  his  hand,  and  was  closely  followed  by  a 
representation  of  the  fire-god.  This  was  an  entirely  nude  boy,  the 
body  painted  black  and  covered  all  over  with  many-colored  round 
spots.  His  face  and  head  were  entirely  concealed  by  a  round-topped, 
equally  black  and  speckled  mask  or  helmet.  Slung  across  his  shoul- 
der was  a  pouch  made  from  the  skin  of  a  fawn,  and  in  his  hand  a  long, 
large  smoking  torch  of  cedar  bark,  which  he  kept  gracefully  waving 
from  side  to  side. 

"  The  whole  party  passed  rapidly  toward  one  of  the  plazas,  where 
a  square  hole  had  been  dug  by  the  Priest  of  the  Sun.  After  dancing 
back  and  forth  four  times  to  the  clang  of  their  rattles,  uttering  at 
intervals  cries  of  hoo  too !  hoo  too !  the  four  principal  characters, 
with  long  prayers  and  ceremonials,  deposited  sacrifices  of  some  of 
the  plumed  sticks.  This  ceremonial  was  repeated  in  the  chief  plazas 
of  the  pueblo,  and  outside  of  it  north,  south,  and  east,  after  which 
the  whole  party,  just  at  sunset,  retired  into  one  of  the  immense 
sacred  rooms  at  the  southern  side  of  the  town. 


204  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  After  dusk,  the  giant  figures  which  had  been  left  on  the  plain 
across  the  river  came  in  one  by  one.  They  were,  by  all  odds,  the 
most  monstrous  conceptions  I  had  seen  among  the  Zuni  dances. 
They  were  at  least  twelve  feet  high.  Their  gigantic  heads  were 
shocks  of  long  black  hair  with  great  horns  at  the  sides,  green  masks 
with  huge,  protruding  eye-balls,  and  long,  pointed,  square-ended, 
wooden  beaks;  and  their  bodies  were  draped  with  'embroidered  and 
tasselled  blankets,  underneath  which  only  the  tiny,  bare,  painted  feet 
of  the  actor  could  be  seen.  The  spasmodic  rolling  of  the  great  eye- 
balls and  the  sharp  snapping  of  the  beak  as  it  rapidly  opened  and 
closed,  together  with  a  fan-shaped  arrangement  of  eagle-feathers  at 
the  back  of  the  head,  gave  these  figures  the  appearance  of  angry 
monster-birds. 

"  To  each  new  house  of  the  pueblo  one  of  these  monsters  was 
guided  by  two  priests.  The  latter  were  clad  in  closely  fitting  buck- 
skin armor  and  round,  helmet-like  skull-caps  of  the  same  material. 
Several  elaborately  costumed  flute-players,  together  with  a  K6-yi-ma- 
shi  or  two,  attended.  After  prayers  and  ceremonials  before  the  lad- 
ders of  the  houses  to  be  entered,  each,  with  his  two  attendant  priests, 
mounted  with  great  difficulty,  descended  through  the  sky-hole,  and 
was  stationed  at  one  end  of  the  room,  near  the  side  of  an  altar, 
differing  only  in  details  from  the  one  already  described  as  belonging 
to  the  K6-yi-ma-shis.  Immense  fires  of  sputtering  pinon-wood,  and 
rude,  bowl-shaped  lamps  of  grease,  brilliantly  lighted  up  each  one  of 
these  closely  curtained  rooms. 

"  Toward  midnight,  my  brother  explained  to  me  that,  in  each  new 
room  and  sacred  house  of  Zufii,  the  twelve  '  medicine '  orders  of  the 
tribe  were  to  meet,  and  that,  as  he  was  a  priest  of  one  of  them,  I 
could  go  with  him,  if  I  would  sit  very  quiet  in  one  corner,  and  not 
move,  sleep,  nor  speak  during  the  entire  night. 

"  As  we  entered  the  closely  crowded,  spacious  room  into  which 
the  first  party  of  dancers  had  retired,  a  space  was  being  cleared 
lengthwise  through  the  centre,  from  the  altar  down  toward  the  oppo- 
site end.  With  many  a  hasty  admonition,  the  Governor  placed  me 
in  a  corner  so  near  the  hearth  that,  for  a  long  time,  controlled  by  his 
directions,  I  was  nearly  suffocated  by  the  heat.  Along  the  northern 
side  of  the  room  were  the  dancers,  their  masks  now  laid  aside.  Con- 
spicuous among  them  were  the  two  priests,  who  were  engaged  in  a 
long,  rhythmical  prayer,  chant,  or  ritual,  over  eight  or  ten  nearly 
prostrate  Indians  who  squatted  on  the  floor  at  their  feet.  As  soon 
as  this  prayer  was  ended,  great  steaming  bowls  of  meat,  trays  of 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  205 

paper-bread,  and  baskets  of  melons  were  placed  in  rows  along  the 
cleared  space.  A  loud  prayer  was  uttered  over  them  by  an  old 
priest,  who  held  in  his  hands  a  bow,  some  arrows,  and  a  war-club, 
and  who  wore  over  one  shoulder  a  strange  badge  of  buckskin  orna- 
mented with  sea-shells  and  flint  arrow-heads.  He  was  followed  by 
the  Priest  of  the  Sun,  from  the  other  end  of  the  room.  The  little 
fire-god  then  passed  along  the  array  of  victuals,  waving  his  torch 
over  them,  with  which  the  feast  was  pronounced  ready. 

"  Many  of  the  dishes  were  placed  before  the  dancers  and  priests 
and  a  group  of  singers  whose  nearly  nude  bodies  were  grotesquely 
painted  with  streaks  and  daubs  of  white.  They  were  gathered, 
rattles  in  hand,  around  an  immense  earthen  kettle-drum  at  the  left 
side  of  the  altar,  opposite  the  now  crouching  monster.  As  soon  as 
the  feast  was  concluded,  many  of  the  women  bore  away  on  their 
heads,  in  huge  bowls,  such  of  the  food  as  remained. 

"  The  singers  then  drawing  closely  around  the  drum,  facing  one 
another,  struck  up  a  loud  chant,  which,  accompanied  by  the  drum- 
ming and  the  rattles,  filled  the  whole  apartment  with  a  reverberating 
din,  to  me  almost  unendurable.  Two  by  two  the  dancers  would  rise, 
step  rapidly  and  high  from  one  foot  to  the  other,  until,  covered  with 
perspiration  and  almost  exhausted,  they  were  relieved  by  others. 
At  the  close  of  each  verse  in  the  endless  chant,  the  great  figure  by 
the  altar  would  start  up  from  its  half-sitting  posture,  until  its  head 
nearly  touched  the  ceiling,  and,  with  a  startling  series  of  reports, 
would  clap  its  long  beak  and  roll  its  protruding  eyes  in  time  to  the 
music. 

"  When  the  little  fire-god  took  his  place  in  the  centre  of  the  room, 
no  one  relieved  him  for  more  than  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  I  feared 
momentarily  that  he  would  drop  from  sheer  exhaustion.  But  I 
learned  later  that  this  was  a  trial  ceremonial,  and  that  it  was  one  of 
the  series  of  preparations  which  he  had  to  pass  through  before 
becoming  a  priest,  to  which  rank  his  birth  rendered  him  eligible. 

"  Just  as  the  morning  star  was  rising,  the  music  ceased,  the  con- 
gregation became  silent,  and  the  chief  dancer  was  led  to  the  centre 
of  the  room,  where  he  was  elaborately  costumed.  Then  the  Priest 
of  the  Sun  took  him  up  the  ladder  to  the  roof,  where,  facing  the  east, 
he  pronounced  in  measured,  solemn  tones  a  long  prayer  to  the  wan- 
ing Sun  of  the  Old  Year.  Descending,  he  pronounced  before  the 
multitude  (signalizing  the  end  of  each  sentence  with  a  clang  of  his 
rattles)  a  metrical  ritual  of  even  greater  length.  Then  the  spectators 
gathered  around  the  altar,  and  hastily  said  their  prayers,  the  sound 


206  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

of  which  reminded  me  of  a  recitation  in  concert  in  a  large  school- 
room. The  sun  rose,  and  they  dispersed  to  their  various  homes. 

"  Some  time  after,  the  dancers,  one  by  one,  still  in  costume,  passed 
over  the  river  toward  the  southward ;  and  the  monsters,  to  the 
sounds  of  chants,  accompanied  by  rude  music  on  the  flutes,  were 
guided  across  to  a  flat,  snow-covered  plain,  where,  in  the  presence 
of  the  assembled  priests  of  Zuni, — but  no  others, — they  ran  back 
and  forth,  one  after  another,  over  a  great  square,  planted  plumed 
sticks  at  either  end  of  it,  and,  forming  a  procession,  slowly  marched 
away  and  vanished  among  the  southern  hills.  Toward  evening  no 
fewer  than  seven  curious  dance-lines  of  the  ka-ka  at  one  time  occu- 
pied the  principal  court.  Most  of  that,  as  well  as  of  the  three  suc- 
ceeding nights,  were  passed  in  ceremonials  at  the  sacred  houses  and 
estufas.  With  this  the  great  festival  was  over.  The  assembled 
Indian  visitors,  laden  with  food  and  the  products  of  Zuni  looms, 
departed  for  their  various  tribal  homes." 

The  Zunis  and  Moquis  cannot  understand  each  other.  Yet,  in 
their  general  appearance,  they  are  alike.  A  description  of  the  domes- 
tic and  sogial  life  of  one  tribe  would  be  essentially  a  description  of 
the  other.  The  following  account  of  the  Moquis  is  equally  correct  of 
the  Zunis  :  — 

"The  women  looked  neat  and  contented,  seeming  to  be  always 
busy,  some  weaving  their  thick  woollen  dresses,  others  grinding 
grain  or  baking  their  curious  wafer-like  bread,  accompanying  the 
labor  with  strange,  weird  songs.  The  grinding  is  done  by  three 
women,  who  kneel  over  stone  troughs  sunken  into  the  floor.  Slabs 
of  stone  of  different  degrees  of  roughness  are  placed  like  a  wash- 
board in  the  troughs,  and  on  these  the  grinding  is  done  by  rubbing 
the  grain  with  another  stone  of  the  size  and  shape  of  a  small  rolling- 
pin.  The  first  reduces  the  grain,  which  has  been  already  cracked,  to 
meal,  the  next  makes  it  finer,  and  the  third  turns  it  out  a  fine  flour. 
It  thus  passes  from  one  trough  to  another,  occupying  nearly  an  hour 
in  the  process.  'The  women,  mostly  young,  and  some  of  them  quite 
pretty,  work  with  a  coquettish  merriment,  keeping  perfect  time  with 
their  music,  throwing  their  bodies  forward  together,  so  as  to  bring 
nearly  their  whole  weight  upon  the  mill.  Their  long,  glossy  hair, 
which  is  kept  very  clean,  is  tossed  freely  about  their  necks,  adding 
much  to  their  grace  and  beauty. 

"  One  room  of  each  house  is  devoted  to  grinding  and  baking,  the 
latter  process  being  even  more  curious  than  the  former.  A  smooth 
slab  of  slate  two  feet  square  is  fixed  in  the  large  fireplace  and  heated 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  207 

by  coals.  The  hand  is  dipped  into  a  thin  dough  of  the  consistency 
of  cream,  and  then  rubbed  quickly  over  the  stone,  this  being  repeated 
four  or  five  times,  till  a  cake  is  formed  covering  the  entire  stone,  yet 
no  thicker  than  tissue-paper.  Only  a  few  seconds  are  occupied  in 
the  baking,  when  the  bread  is  taken  off,  and  the  operation  repeated, 
till  a  few  quarts  of  dough  are  manufactured  into  perhaps  a  thousand 
tortillas,  one  of  which  would  hardly  make  a  mouthful,  but  the  thou- 
sand would  cover  the  floors  of  five  large  rooms.  These  sheets  are 
made  into  rolls,  a  dozen  or  more  being  rolled  together,  and  are  then 
eaten  literally  by  the  yard/' 

Mr.  Cozzens  paid  this  singular  people  a  visit,  and  enjoyed  their 
hospitality.  We  condense  the  substance  of  what  he  says  about  them 
as  follows  :  — 

"  Their  villages,  of  which  there  are  seven,  are  built  upon  the  very 
edge  of  these  rocky  mesas,  in  so  singular  a  manner  that,  at  a  little 
distance,  it  is  impossible  for  a  stranger  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
rocks,  of  which  they  appear  to  form  a  part.  The  first  three  of  these 
are  built  upon  a  bluff  of  solid  rock,  about  three  hundred  feet  high, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  are  reached  by  steep 
paths  and  by  steps  cut  into  the  rock  in  such  a  manner  that  they  can 
only  be  approached  by  persons  on  foot. 

"  The  houses  are  built  of  stone,  are  generally  two  stories  high,  and 
are  laid  in  a  mortar  made  of  mud,  which  is  brought  from  the  valleys 
below  upon  the  backs  of  men,  there  being  no  soil  whatever  upon  the 
rocks.  In  form  they  are  similar  to  those  of  Zufii,  entrance  to  them 
being  by  ladders,  as  there  are  neither  doors  nor  windows  in  the  lower 
stories. 

"  The  first  and  largest  town  is  called  Harro  ;  and  contains  a  popu- 
lation of  about  two  thousand  persons.  .  .  .  The  population  of  all  the 
villages  is  supposed  to  be  about  six  thousand. 

"  Of  their  religious  belief :  They  believe  in  a  Great  Father,  who 
dwelt  where  the  sun  rises,  and  of  a  Great  Mother,  who  lived  where 
the  sun  sets.  She  peopled  the  earth  by  bringing  from  her  own  home 
nine  things,  from  which  sprang  the  different  races  of  men.  First, 
the  deer  race  ;  second,  the  sand  race ;  third,  the  water  race ;  fourth, 
the  bear  race ;  fifth,  the  hare  race ;  sixth,  the  prairie-wolf  race ; 
seventh,  the  rattlesnake  race ;  eighth,  the  tobacco-plant  race ;  and 
ninth,  the  seed-grass  race.  That  after  death,  they  assumed  the  form 
from  which  they  originally  sprang,  thus  aiding  to  form  anew  the 
decaying  elements  of  the  earth. 

"They  never  plough  or  irrigate  their  lands,  depending  entirely 


208 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


upon  the  natural  fall  of  rain ;  their  only  agricultural  implement  is  a 
kind  of  hoe ;  with  this  they  plant  corn,  beans,  onions,  melons,  pump- 
kins, cotton,  and  a  species  of  tobacco-plant,  in  the  valleys  around 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  209 

them.  They  also  knit,  weave,  and  spin  very  nicely,  as  do  the  Zufiis 
and  the  others  of  the  Pueblo  tribes. 

"  One  very  singular  fact  is,  that,  while  the  whole  seven  villages  are 
within  a  radius  of  six  miles,  the  people  of  Harro  speak  a  different 
language  from  those  of  the  remaining  six  villages,  and  seem  to  have 
preserved  their  manners  and  customs  intact,  as  well  as  their  language, 
for  centuries  ;  and  another  singular  fact  is,  that,  while  the  people  of 
Harro  understand  and  can  converse  in  the  language  spoken  by  the 
people  of  the  other  villages,  the  latter  neither  understand  nor  can 
converse  in  the  language  spoken  by  the  people  of  Harro.  .  .  . 

"  I  was  surprised,  upon  offering  them  some  whiskey,  to  have  them 
decline  -it ;  also,  to  learn  that  the  vice  of  drunkenness  was  unknown 
among  them,  and  that  they  used  no  kind  of  fermented  liquors,  not- 
withstanding Neal  Dow  and  the  Prohibitory  Law  were  strangers  to 
them.  I  also  learned  that  the  crime  of  murder  was  unknown  in  their 
nation,  that  they  never  made  war,  but  were  brave  and  valiant  when 
attacked. 

"Their  dress  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Pueblo  Indians,  and  in 
general  appearance  they  strongly  resembled  them  ;  although  I  fancied 
them  more  intelligent  looking,  their  faces  having  a  frank  and  manly 
expression ;  in  fact,  save  in  dress  and  complexion,  they  resembled 
American  rather  than  Indian  nationality. 

"  Their  women  are  very  pretty  as  well  as  industrious,  and  have  a 
manner  of  dressing  their  hair  which,  to  the  initiated,  proclaims  their 
condition  in  life.  If  unmarried,  they  do  it  up  in  two  inverse  rolls, 
which  give  to  the  head  a  very  singular  appearance,  not  unlike  that  of 
having  horns  ;  after  marriage,  it  is  worn  in  two  large  braids  on  each 
side  of  the  face.  .  .  . 

"  Each  house  has  its  patron  saint,  represented  by  an  ugly  little 
Aztec  image,  made  of  wood  or  clay,  gaudily  painted  and  gorgeously 
decorated  with  feathers.  These  images  are  suspended  by  a  string 
from  the  rafters  of  their  houses,  and  are  supposed  to  exert  a  great 
influence  for  weal  or  woe  over  its  inmates. 

"  Every  village  has  an  cstufa  underground,  or,  more  properly,  a 
council-chamber,  which  is  used  as  a  public  room  ;  here  the  people  are 
wont  to  congregate,  to  sit  and  smoke  and  talk  over  the  affairs  of  the 
nation.  The  only  light  or  air  is  obtained  from  a  scuttle  in  the  roof, 
which  also  serves  as  a  door. 

"  From  all  I  could  learn  of  the  Moquis,  I  concluded  that  they  were 
a  simple,  moral,  industrious,  and  hospitable  people,  and  without  doubt 
are  legitimate  descendants  of  the  Aztec  race." 


2IO 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MEXICANS. 

The  blood  of  the  Spaniard  and  nomadic  Indian  mixed  produced 
the  Mexican.  From  personal  observation  we  say  that  he  has  much 
in  common  with  the  people  already  described.  In  his  habits  and 
customs,  superstitions,  methods  of  labor,  occupation,  implements  of 
husbandry,  and  decided  opposition  to  progress,  he  resembles  the 
Pueblos  and  their  coadjutors. 

The  house  which  the  typical  Mexican  occupies  is  built  of  sun- 
dried  brick  (adobe),  usually  eighteen  inches  long,  nine  wide,  and 
four  thick,  as  the  house  of  his  early  ancestor  was,  over  three  hundred 
years  ago. 
Short  straw  is 
mixed  with  the 
clay  of  which 
these  bricks 
are  made,  in 
order  to  hold 
them  together. 
They  are  laid 
with  mortar 
made  of  the 
same  material. 
When  the 
height  for  the0nLineofD-&R. 
roof  is  reached, 

straight  poles  are  laid  close  together,  with  a  slight  incline  from  one 
wall  to  its  parallel  wall.  A  coating  of  stiff  mud  is  spread  over  these 
poles,  and  over  that  loose  earth.  The  mud  floor  is  levelled  and 
smoothed,  a  fireplace  constructed  of  adobe  in  one  corner,  a  small 
door  made  and  one  or  more  windows  ;  and  this  is  a  Mexican  dwelling. 
Within  a  few  years,  since  the  railroad,  telegraph,  and  telephone,  and 
other  improvements  of  modern  civilization,  have  been  thrust  upon 
them,  the  more  intelligent  and  enterprising  class  are  imitating 
Americans  somewhat  in  the  construction  of  their  houses.  But  the 
typical  Mexican  loves  the  old  architecture  of  his  forefathers  still. 

He  clings,  also,  to  the  ancient  mode  of  dress.  Fashions  never 
change  with  him.  From  time  immemorial  the  Mexican  dress  has 
been  substantially  the  same. 

Mexicans  have  adopted  few  modern  improvements  to  facilitate 
work.  Machines  that  are  prevalent  in  the  New  West,  among  Ameri- 


LIFE  IN   NEW    MEXICO. 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  211 

cans,  in  farming  and -the  mechanic  arts,  are  not  used  by  them. 
We  saw  Mexicans  reaping  grain  with  a  knife  that  resembled  the 
sickle  of  Palestine,  the  same  as  that  used  by  their  forefathers.  Their 
plough  is  especially  ancient,  —  the  crooked  stick  of  the  Orient.  Their 
method  of  grinding  is  similar.  The  burro,  or  donkey,  is  the  Mexi- 
can's favorite  beast  of  burden. 

The  following  illustrations  will  enforce  the  foregoing  remarks  by 

showing  that,  in  some  things,  Mexican  life 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  Pueblos. 

A  "traveller  who  has  been  much  among 
the  Mexicans  says  :  — 

"  When  spring  opens,  the  average  Mexi- 
can farmer  rouses 
from  his  day- 
dreams that  he 
has  been  enjoy- 

MEXICAN  CART.  ing,    wrapped    in 

his  blanket,  while 

sitting  in  the  sun  on  the  warm  side  of  the  house.  He  calls  in  the 
neighbors,  and  ploughing  begins.  He  gets  the  neighbors  to  assist 
him  for  two  reasons.  First,  because  he  is  decidedly  a  gregarious 
animal ;  he  loves  to  work  in  a  crowd.  Besides  this,  in  this  ploughing 
business  there  is  economy  in  running  a  number  of  teams  at  once,  for 
the  education  of  the  Mexican  ox  is  peculiar.  For  when  that  wooden 
pole  with  the  block  on  the  end,  by  courtesy  called  a  plough,  is  fastened 
to  his  yoke,  he  expects  one  able-bodied  man  to  walk  in  front,  while 
another  holds  the  single 
handle  of  the  plow.  But 
if  another  yoke  of  cattle 
is  behind,  they  will  follow 
the  first  plough,  and  so  the 
more  the  merrier,  and  the 
work  goes  bravely  on.  MEXICAN  PLOUGH 

The  land  is  ploughed  fdll 

two  inches  deep ;  the  corn  is  planted  and  is  ready  for  the  water  from 
the  irrigating  ditches." 

No  miller  is  required  to  run  the  following  mill.  It  can  grind  but 
three  bushels  of  corn  in  a  day.  Mexicans  would  not  have  it  grind 
any  more,  if  it  could ;  for  it  ground  no  more  than  that  in  a  day  for 
their  ancestors.  The  farmer  takes  his  grist  to  the  mill,  where  he 
finds  the  raw-hide  hopper  waiting  to  receive  it.  Into  this  hopper  he 


212 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


pours  his  grist,  which  slowly  trickles  down  between  the  native  mill- 
stones —  slowness  being  one  of  the  marvels  of  Pueblo  and  Mexican 
work.  One  of  these  stones  is  fastened  to  the  top  of  an  upright 
wooden  shaft,  while  the  lower  end  has  projecting  boards  which  serve 
as  floats  to  catch  the  force  of  the  stream  which  flows  against  it. 

The  cut  on  p.  213  represents  the  adobe  fireplace,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  large,  and  in  keeping  with  its  Mexican  surroundings.  The  trav- 
eller already  quoted  says  :  "The  interior  of  the  Mexican  house,  where 
I  made  my  corn  purchase,  was  so  similar  to  others  that  a  description  is 
in  order.  The  walls  are  built  of  adobe,  and  washed  outside  and  inside 
with  plaster  of  Paris,  with  a  border  near  the  floor,  of  yellow  mica, 


MEXICAN    FLOUR-MILL. 


which  gives  a  fine  effect.  The  floor  is  of  the  same  composition  as 
the  walls,  while  the  roof  is  of  poles  covered  with  earth.  The  win- 
dows are  very  small,  and  in  many  cases  the  rutle  sash  is  covered  with 
cloth.  The  fireplace  is  very  shallow  and  high,  pointed  and  propor- 
tioned like  a  Gothic  window  ;  burns  the  wood  on  end ;  gives  out  a 
great  light  and  heat ;  is  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and  is  every  way  a 
success.  A  bedstead  stood  in  the  corner,  but  I  found  out  afterward 
that  bedsteads  were  never  used  except  to  hold  the  bedding  through 
the  day.  At  night  everything  comes  down  on  to  the  floor,  and  is 
spread  there." 


MARVELS  OF  RACE. 


213 


The  same  writer  describes  the  Mexicans  as  follows :  — 
"The  male  specimen,  if  he  is  poor,  wears  a  blanket  of  home  man- 
ufacture for  a  coat ;  a  cheap  hat,  buckskin  pantaloons,  and  moccasins 
complete  his  dress. 

"  He  was  born  a  Catholic,  but  if  you  ask  him  for  a  reason  for  the 
faith  that  is  within  him,  he  replies  with  the  '  Quien  Sabe,'  or  who 
knows,  which  he  uses  in  all  cases  when  he  is  ignorant  or  in  doubt ; 
and  one  or  the  other  of  these  conditions  covers  most  of  his  life.  If  he 
can  talk  a  little  English,  look  out  for  him.  If  he  cannot,  he  will  treat 

you  well  and  divide  his 
last  morsel  of  food  with 
you,  if  necessary. 

"  He  is  not  very  fond 
of  work,  but  when  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to 
buy  candles  and  pay  the 
musicians  for  a  dance, 
or  buy  whiskey,  you  can 
rely  on  him  for  working 
as  long  as  the  necessity 
lasts. 

"He  does  not  talk 
good  Spanish ;  it  is  so 
mixed  with  the  language 
of  the  Utes  or  Navajo, 
from  which  he  is  partial- 

ADOBE  FIREPLACE.  ty  descended. 

"  His  richer  neighbor, 

who  owns  the  cattle  in  the  vicinity,  most  likely  can  talk  better,  and 
write  and  read  a  little,  although  schools  are  so  uncommon  with  them 
that  all  my  attempts  to  give  them  any  information  in  regard  to  Spain, 
or  any  country  in  Europe,  were  failures.  For  when  they  found  that 
such  places  were  across  the  sea,  their  minds  refused  to  grasp  more, 
and  they  would  tell  me  that  that  was  enough. 

"A  Mexican  happened  into  a  telegraph  office.  Its  mysteries 
haunted  him,  until  we  met  one  evening,  and  he  asked  me  to  explain 
them.  I  rashly  thought  it  could  be  done,  and  commenced  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  way  in  which  magnetism  was  developed  by  the  acids  and 
plates  of  the  batteries.  But  he  had  never  seen  any  sulphuric  acid, 
zinc  plates,  or  magnet,  and  knew  nothing  of  their  accomplishments. 
A  young  man  with  a  group  of  friends  came  to  the  house  at  which  I 


214  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

was  stopping,  and  handing  me  his  hat,  asked  me  to  tell  the  company 
what  was  written  on  it.  I  happened  to  know  his  name,  and  saw  that 
the  strange  characters  were  intended  for  it,  and  without  any  hesita- 
tion told  the  audience  that  that  was  his  name.  This  was  a  triumph 
for  him,  as  he  had  brought  his  friends  several  miles  to  prove  by  me 
that  he  could  write.  No  one  of  them  could  tell,  as  they  could  neither 
read  nor  write  themselves.  After  this  happy  disposal  of  the  case,  it 
occurred  to  him  of  the  hat  to  arrange  some  business  between  us  so 
that  I  should  pay  a  friend  of  his  some  money,  in  case  he  completed 
a  trade  with  him,  which  he  expected  to.  'But  how  am  I  to  know,'  I 
asked,  '  whether  you  trade  or  not  ?  Will  you  send  an  order  by  him 
for  the  money  ? '  This  was  too  much.  He  could  write  his  name,  but 
an  order  for  money  was  too  vast  a  thing.  But  he  got  out  of  the 
dilemma  by  telling  me  that  his  friend  should  wear  his  hat  with  his 
name  on  it,  if  the  money  was  to  be  paid  to  him. 

"  A  Mexican  woman,  with  hardly  an  exception,  has  black  eyes, 
and  wears  a  long  shawl  over  her  head,  with  the  ends  brought  around 
in  front  of  the  face,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  only  the  eyes  visi- 
ble. With  this  arrangement,  the  effect  is  very  fine.  A  swarthy  skin 
or  ugly  feature  is  hidden,  while  the  glorious  eyes  sparkle  at  you  in 
their  beauty  from  among  the  folds  of  the  shawl. 

"  She  exists  under  difficulties.  In  cooking  she  is  restricted,  by 
circumstances,  to  such  dishes  as  can  be  prepared  at  a  fireplace,  with 
a  small  kettle  and  a  flat  rock  or  a  piece  of  sheet  iron,  on  which  to 
bake  cakes.  Pies  and  puddings  are  unknown,  except  on  great  occa- 
sions. Besides  the  scarcity  of  cooking-utensils,  a  very  small  supply 
of  food  curbs  any  ambitious  attempt  to  excel  in  cooking.  Indeed,  so 
insignificant  is  the  whole  stock  of  housekeeping  utensils,  that  family 
divisions  occur  with  alarming  frequency.  In  that  case  account  of 
stock  is  soon  taken,  a  sheepskin  or  two  and  an  old  kettle  being  each 
one's  share. 

"  When  it  comes  to  dress,  the  poorest  ones  even  are  equal  to  the 
emergency ;  for  when  the  presence  of  the  musicians  on  the  street 
announces  the  approach  of  a  dance,  every  woman  in  town  is  busy 
with  a  judicious  system  of  temporary  swaps  of  clothing,  the  result  of 
which  is  a  triumphant  display,  at  the  dance,  of  a  combination  of  dress 
entirely  new  to  the  wearer.  And  woman's  taste  for  an  appearance 
in  a  costume  never  seen  before,  is  gratified  without  the  expense  of 
shopping." 

Mexicans  are  as  fond  of  "The  Dance"  as  the  Zuftis  are.  Some 
of  their  dances  are  only  social,  others  are  connected  with  religious 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  21$ 

ceremonies.  But  even  social  dances  are  a  serious  matter  with  them. 
They  never  laugh  at  a  dance,  not  even  at  a  mistake.  The  oldest 
people  among  them  dance,  as  well  as  the  youngest.  At  three  or 
four  years  of  age  Mexican  children  begin  to  dance.  These  facts 
show  that  Mexicans  resemble  the  ancient  races  discussed  in  respect 
to  this  amusement,  whether  social  or  sacred. 

In  courtship  and  marriage  ceremony,  there  is  much  to  remind  one 
of  the  Zunis.  Also,  funeral  ceremonies,  though  differing  consider- 
ably, nevertheless  have  striking  points  of  resemblance.  The  traveller 
quoted  went  to  a  funeral,  and  he  writes  :  — 

" '  Do  you  care  to  .go  to  a  valoria  ? '  a  friend  said  one  evening. 
1  What  is  that  ? '  I  asked.  '  Put  a  candle  in  your  pocket  and  come 
and  see,'  was  the  reply.  With  the  candle  pocketed,  I  followed  my 
companion  up  the  hill  to  an  humble  dwelling  at  the  top.  As  we 
entered,  we  found  the  four  sides  of  the  room  occupied  by  persons 
busy  in  recounting  the  virtues  of  their  deceased  friend,  who  lay  upon 
the  earth  floor,  surrounded  by  burning  candles,  which  had  been  con- 
tributed by  the  persons  entering  the  house.  I  added  mine  to  the 
number,  and  watched  the  proceedings  awhile  ;  but  as  they  were  very 
monotonous  I  adjourned. 

"  The  next  day  the  funeral  took  place,  without  any  unusual  cere- 
mony, except  the  piling  of  stones  whenever  the  coffin-bearers  rested 
on  the  way  to  the  grave. 

"  These  stone  piles  are  to  be  seen  all  over  New  Mexico,  in  the 
vicinity  of  church-yards." 

The  presence  of  dogs  and  donkeys,  in  large  numbers,  in  a  Mexican 
town,  reminds  one  of  a  Pueblo  town.  A  Mexican  family  has  not  a 
complete  outfit  without  them. 

There  is  another  feature  of  Mexican  life,  which  strikingly  resem- 
bles some  of  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  Zunis.  The  participators 
are  "  Penitenties "  ;  and  the  authority  cited  describes  the  occasion 
very  briefly :  — 

"  Near  every  large  town  may  be  seen  a  long  adobe  building,  gen- 
erally closed,  while  inside  are  large  wooden  crosses-,  made  from  the 
unhewn  timber  of  the  vicinity.  They  are  of  different  sizes  and 
weights,  generally  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and  six  or 
seven  inches  in  diameter,  and  making  a  good  load  for  the  men  who 
are  to  carry  them. 

"  Various  secret  midnight  meetings  are  held  during  the  year.  No 
one  is  supposed  to  know  who  the  members  of  these  societies  are,  and 


2l6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

no  public  demonstration  is  made  by  the  whole  society  until  their 
anniversary  day  in  the  spring. 

"  On  this  occasion  the  different  penitenties  assemble  near  the 
building,  form  a  procession,  and  carry  the  crosses  through  the  neigh- 
boring valley.  As  they  walk,  with  their  faces  covered  with  a  mask 
and  their  backs  uncovered,  the  bystanders  beat  them  with  cactus 
bushes  until  the  blood  streams  down  their  bodies. 

"  Sometimes  they  resort  to  other  modes  of  torture,  the  idea  seem- 
ing to  be  to  add  as  much  as  possible  to  their  burdens.  I  have  known 
three  persons  to  die  from  the  effects  of  this  self-inflicted  torture,  at 
one  meeting  ;  and  this,  too,  only  from  one  small  neighborhood. 
Individual  members  of  the  society  torture  themselves  at  other 
times  during  the  year,  in  various  ways,  such  as  lying  down  in  front 
of  the  churches  and  begging  the  people,  as  they  come  out,  to  step 
on  them,  'for  the  love  of  God.'  This  they  do  to  help  the  matter 
along. 

"  I  have  endeavored  to  find  out  whether  these  societies  of  peni- 
tenties are  connected  with  the  church  ;  and,  although  one  priest 
with  whom  I  conversed  denied  it,  yet  everything  looked  like  it,  and 
I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  some  kind  of  an  outgrowth 
of  their  religion,  and  that  it  is  responsible  for  it. 

"The  car  of  Juggernaut  has  long  ceased  to  crush  its  victims ;  but 
here  in  a  territory  of  the  United  States  is  an  annual  offering  of  lives 
to  heathenism." 

Mexicans  employ  themselves,  on  the  whole,  very  much  as  the 
races  described  do.  They  till  the  earth,  raise  cattle  and  sheep,  and 
manufacture  pottery,  cloth,  and  blankets.  The  women  do  their 
housework,  and  also  wash  the  wheat  for  the  mill,  and  sift  the  bran 
from  the  flour  on  its  return.  As  all  families  do  not  depend  on  the 
mill,  women  often  "grind  the  grain  by  rubbing  it  between  a  large 
stationary  stone  and  a  long  slim  one,  which  they  hold  in  both  hands, 
grinding  the  grain  as  it  slides  down  the  face  of  the  large  one,  on  to 
the  flesh  side  of  a  sheepskin  spread  out  to  receive  it."  The  women, 
also,  plaster  the  houses  with  mud,  and  whitewash  them  with  plaster 
of  Paris. 

The  writer  already  quoted  sheds  additional  light  upon  the  ways  of 
this  people  by  a  graphic  sketch  of  their  "  Every-day  Life,"  which  we 
furnish  :  — 

"  The  furniture  of  a  Mexican  house  is  very  simple ;  so,  too,  is 
their  way  of  living. 

"  If  you  approach  a  house  and  wish  for  a  meal  or  lodging,  you  will 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  21? 

be  welcomed,  and  invited  to  enter  in  the  most  polite  manner.  '  Pass 
in ' ;  '  enter,  gentlemen,'  is  the  English  of  the  most  common  imi- 
tation. 

"  If  you  are  a  relative  or  a  particular  friend  of  the  family,  the  next 
thing  on  the  programme  is  a  species  of  hug,  —  not  a  good  square  hug 
as  if  you  enjoyed  it,  but  a  rather  formal  affair,  the  hands  of  the 
parties  being  on  each  others  shoulders.  This  thing  is  soon  over  with, 
and  then  comes  a  smoke  all  around. 

"  The  finer  corn  husks  make  the  wrapping  for  the  cigarette. 
These  are  always  carried  conveniently  and  are  passed  around,  filled 
with  fine  tobacco,  folded  and  lit,  and  soon  the  air  is  blue  with  smoke 
and  vocal  with  the  gossip  which  is  being  exchanged. 

"  Perhaps  some  one  has  been  elected  to  some  church  office,  and  is 
going  to  give  a  dance  in  honor  of  the  event,  and  the  particulars  of 
that  are  under  discussion. 

"  If  you  propose  to  stop  to  a  meal  and  all  night,  and  are  an  Ameri- 
can, you  will  soon  find  that  you  have  created  quite  an  excitement. 
It  rarely  happens  that  one  family  of  the  poorer  classes  have  all  the 
requisites  on  hand  for  a  good  meal ;  so  one  child  is  despatched  one 
way  to  borrow  some  article,  another  in  a  different  direction  for  some- 
thing else,  while  the  woman  of  the  house  curls  down  by  the  fire- 
place to  get  the  supper. 

"  There  is  a  kind  of  cake  they  make  of  flour  and  water,  without 
shortening  or  yeast  of  any  kind.  These  they  work  out  as  thin  with 
their  hands  as  it  is  possible  to  make  them,  and  then  fry  them  floating 
in  lard.  They  are  brittle  and  are  very  good. 

"As  I  was  asked  one  evening  what  I  would  like  for  supper,  I 
thought  of  these  cakes,  and  said  I  •would  like  some  of  them. 

"  Every  one  commenced  laughing. 

"  I  was  astonished,  for  they  rarely  laugh  at  mistakes.  I  asked 
them  if  they  hadn't  plenty  of  flour. 

"  '  Yes  !    But  where  shall  we  catch  them  ? ' 

"  After  having  plenty  of  fun  at  my  mistake,  they  explained  that 
by  using  a  slightly  different  word,  I  had  inquired  for  fried  ghosts  for 
supper. 

"  I  never  saw  a  woman  sit  at  a  table  but  once,  and  then  it  was  in 
response  to  a  remark  that  I  made,  that  American  women  always  sit 
at  the  table. 

"'Yes,'  said  my  host,  'that's  so.  Come  here,'  said  he  to  his 
wife  and  daughter ;  and  without  any  more  delay  he  had  them  sitting 
at  the  table  with  us.  They  were  not  used  to  it,  but  went  through  it 


218 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


very  creditably,  although  I  know  they  had  much  rather  be  eating  at 
the  fireplace  as  usual. 

"  On  one  occasion  I  was  camping  near  a  house  of  considera- 
ble size.  The  large  herd  of  sheep  belonging  to  the  owner  told 
of  wealth  ;  and  when  I  accepted  his  invitation  to  dinner,  I  was  sur- 
prised at  his  asking  the  loan  of  a  knife  and  fork  from  my  mess 
chest.  But  when  we  sat  down  to  dinner,  I  was  more  surprised, 
for  the  table  was  covered  with  a  new  piece  of  Brussels  carpeting. 


MEXICAN    POTTERY. 


My  knife  and  fork  reposing  in  solitary  s^ate  on  the  carpeted  top 
of  the  table,  while  mine  host  evidently  intended  to  ladle  his  din- 
ner with  a  broken-handled  spoon,  which  nestled  close  to  the  tin 
plate  next  to  him. 

"While  the  women  in  the  kitchen  were  dishing  up  the  red  pepper, 
he  asked  me  to  name  the  price  I  thought  he  had  paid  for  the  carpet, 
adding,  - 1  have  fifty  yards  in  the  corner.' 

"  I  made  the  nearest  guess  I  could,  when  he  told  me  the  cost,  and 
said  he  wanted  to  put  it  down  that  afternoon. 

"'What,'  I  asked,  'on  the  dirt  floor?' 

"  '  Why  not  ? '  he  replied. 

"  Then  followed  a  long  discussion  on  the  necessity  of  a  board  floor, 


MARVELS  OF  RACE.  219 

a  thing  unknown  to  him ;  and,  with  a  long  face,  he  finally  resigned 
himself  to  the  inevitable  expense  that  was  to  come. 

"The  contemplation  of  a  house  with  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
carpet  in  one  room,  and  not  a  knife  or  fork  in  the  whole  house,  was 
so  comical  that  I  was  constantly  thinking  of  it  ;  and  that  evening,  at 
my  stopping-place  a  few  miles  down  the  valley,  I  told  my  host  the 
story,  forgetting,  when  I  commenced,  that  I  was  talking  to  another 
Mexican,  who  would  quite  likely  take  offence  at  my  reflection  on  his 
race.  He  joined  in  the  laugh,  however,  but  looked  awkward  enough 
at  the  table  that  evening,  where  one  could  see  but  little  improvement 
in  his  stock  of  knives  and  forks  over  that  of  his  neighbor." 

The  likeness  of  Mexicans  to  the  ancient  races  considered,  is  seen 
also  in  their  knowledge  of  pottery.  They  understand  the  art  well. 
There  is  a  striking  resemblance,  too,  in  their  methods  of  manufac- 
ture and  styles  of  pottery  produced.  The  illustration  exhibits  that 
similarity  in  a  marked  degree. 

The  foregoing  facts  confirm  the  statement  with  which  we  began, 
—  that  the  Mexican  is  related  to  the  ancient  races  described.  The 
points  of  difference  are  few,  in  comparison  with  the  points  of  resem- 
blance. He  belongs  to  our  marvels  of  race. 


22O 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


221 


III.     MARVELS   OF   ENTERPRISE. 


remarkable  growth  of  the  New  West  is  one  of  its  marvels. 
1  Less  than  fifty  years  ago,  the  larger  part  of  it  was  known  as  the 
"  GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT."  Reference  to  the  accompanying  maps 
of  the  New  West  as  it  was  and  as  it  is,  will  satisfy  the  reader  that  its 
surprising  growth  is  truly  a  marvel. 

It  is  only  forty-five  years  since  Fremont  undertook  his  first  explor- 
ing expedition,  which  embraced  only  a  small  portion  of  the  New 
West,  —  that  portion  lying  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the 
IjLocky  Mountains,  along  the  line  of  the  Kansas  and  Great  Platte 
rivers.  It  was  regarded  as  a  hazardous  enterprise  ;  and  the  hardships 
and  perils  of  such  an  expedition  were  really  appalling.  The  emigrant 
or  hunter  who  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Rocky  Mountains,  without 
losing  his  scalp,  was  considered  a  fortunate  man  ;  for  the  savages  of 
that  day  were  blood-thirsty  and  cruel.  War  was  the  rule,  and  peace 
the  exception  with  the  Indians.  The  diary  of  one  of  the  party 
says  :  — 

"  United  with  the  Cheyenne  and  Gros  Ventie  Indians,  the  Sioux 
were  scouring  the  upper  country  in  war  parties  of  great  force,  and 
were  at  this  moment  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Red  Btittes,  a  famous 
landmark  which  was  directly  on  our  path.  They  had  declared  war 
upon  every  living  thing  which  should  be  found  westward  of  that 
point." 

It  is  only  a  little  more  than  thirty  years  since  the  same  fearless 
explorer,  on  his  fourth  expedition,  saw  his  men  perish  by  cold  and 
hunger  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  a  letter  to  his  father-in-law, 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  Fremont  said  :  "  Letters  which  I  have  forwarded 
to  Mr.  St.  Vrain  will  inform  you  that  we  were  overtaken  by  deep 
snows  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  at  the  head  of  the  Del  Norte.  We 
lost  all  our  animals  and  ten  men,  —  the  mules  frozen,  and  the  men 
starved  to  death,  Prone  only  excepted.  He  was  frozen.  The  mis- 
carriage of  an  express  party,  sent  in  under  Mr.  King,  was  a  secondary 
cause  of  our  greatest  calamity  in  the  loss  of  our  men.  In  six  days 
after  leaving  my  camp  in  the  mountains,  I  overtook  his  party,  they 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


223 


having  been  out  twenty-two  days,  and  King  having  been  starved  to 
death.     In  four  days  afterwards  I  reached  the  settlements  in  time 

to  save  many,  but 
too  late  to  rescue  all 
the  men."  His  dia- 
ry, at  one  time,  con- 
tained the  following : 
"  The  meat  train  did 
not  arrive  this  even- 
ing, and  I  gave 
Godey  leave  to  kill 
our  little  dog  (Ka- 
math),  which  he  pre- 
pared in  Indian  fash- 
ion, —  scorching  off 
the  hair,  and  wash- 
ing the  skin  with 
soap  and  snow,  and 
then  cutting  it  up 
into  pieces  which 
were  laid  on  the 
snow.  We  had  to- 
night an  extraordi- 
nary dinner  —  pea- 
soup,  mule,  and  dog." 
These  sufferings 
and  perils  were  en- 
dured to  find  a  pas- 
sage for  civilization 
across  the  New 
West  to  the  Pacific 
Slope,  where  now 
pleasure-parties  ride 
in  Pullman  cars ; 
and  where,  within 
thirty  years,  some  of 
the  thriftiest  cities 
of  the  world  have 
risen  like  magic 
upon  Indian  hunt- 

RAISING  THE  FLAG.  ™g    grounds. 


224  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

It  was  Fremont  who  planted  the  American  flag,  less  than  fifty 
years  ago,  upon  what  was  then  supposed  to  be  the  highest  peak  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  now  the  tide  of  commerce  rolls.  Fre- 
mont thus  describes  the  place  from  which  he  ascended  the  peak, 
which  he  called  Snow  Peak,  because  its  summit  bore  a  burden  of 
snow  under  a  bright  August  sun.  "We  soon  had  the  satisfaction 
to  find  ourselves  riding  along  the  huge  wall  which  forms  the  central 
summit  of  the  chain.  There  at  last  it  rose  by  our  sides,  a  nearly 
perpendicular  wall  of  granite,  terminating  two  thousand  to  three 
thousand  feet  above  our  heads,  in  a  serrated  line  of  broken,  jagged 
cones.  We  rode  on  until  we  came  almost  immediately  below  the 
main  peak.  Here  were  three  small  lakes  of  a  green  color,  each  of 
perhaps  a  thousand  yards  in  diameter,  and  apparently  very  deep." 
He  described  his  climbing  the  peak  as  follows  :  — 
"  Having  divested  ourselves  of  every  unnecessary  encumbrance, 
we  commenced  the  ascent.  This  time,  like  experienced  travellers, 
we  did  not  press  ourselves,  but  climbed  leisurely,  sitting  down  so 
soon  as  we  found  breath  beginning  to  fail.  At  intervals,  we  reached 
places  where  a  number  of  springs  gushed  from  the  rocks,  and  about 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  lakes  came  to  the  snow 
line.  From  this  point  our  progress  was  uninterrupted  climbing. 
Hitherto,  I  had  worn  a  pair  of  thick  moccasins,  with  soles  of  par- 
fleche;^  but  here  I- put  on  a  light  thin  pair,  which  I  had  brought  for 
the  purpose,  as  now  the  use  of  our  toes  became  necessary  to  a  further 
advance.  I  availed  myself  of  a  sort  of  comb  of  the  mountain,  which 
stood  against  the  wall  like  a  buttress,  and  which  the  wind  and  the 
solar  radiation,  joined  to  the  steepness  of  the  smooth  rock,  had  kept 
almost  entirely  free  from  snow.  Up  this  I  made  my  way  rapidly.  .  .  . 
Putting  hands  and  feet  in  the  crevices  between  the  blocks,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  over  it,  and,  when  I  reached  the  top,  found  my 
companions  in  a  small  valley  below.  Descending  to  them  we  con- 
tinued climbing,  and  in  a  short  time  reached  the  crest.  I  sprung 
upon  the  summit,  and  another  step  would  have  precipitated  me  into 
an  immense  snow-field  five  hundred  feet  below.  To  the  edge  of  this 
field  was  a  sheer  icy  precipice  ;  and  then,  with  a  gradual  fall,  the 
field  sloped  off  for  about  a  mile,  until  it  struck  the  foot  of  another 
lower  ridge.  I  stood  on  a  narrow  crest  about  three  feet  in  width, 
with  an  inclination  of  about  20°  N.  51°  E.  As  soon  as  I  had  grati- 

1  "  Parflichc  is  the  name  given  to  buffalo  hide.  The  Indian  women  prepare  it  by  scraping 
and  drying.  It  is  exceedingly  tough  and  hard,  and  receives  its  name  from  the  circumstance 
that  it  cannot  be  pierced  by  arrows  or  spears." 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE.  22$ 

fied  the  first  feelings  of  curiosity,  I  descended,  and  each  man 
ascended  in  his  turn  ;  for  I  would  only  allow  one  at  a  time  to  mount 
the  unstable  and  precarious  slab,  which  it  seemed  a  breath  would 
hurl  into  the  abyss  below.  We  mounted  the  barometer  in  the  snow 
of  the  summit,  and,  fixing  a  ramrod  in  a  crevice,  unfurled  the  national 
flag  to  wave  in  the  breeze  where  flag  never  waved  before.  During 
our  morning's  ascent,  we  had  met  no  sign  of  animal  life,  except  a 
small  bird  having  the  appearance  of  a  sparrow.  A  stillness  the  most 
profound  and  a  terrible  solitude  forced  themselves  constantly  on  the 
mind  as  the  great  features  of  the  place.  .  .  .  According  to  the  ba- 
rometer, the  little  crest  of  the  wall  on  which  we  stood  was  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  seventy  feet  above  our  camp,  and  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty  above  the  little  lakes  at  the  bottom  immediately 
at  our  feet. 

"  Having  now  made  what  observation  our  means  afforded,  we  pro- 
ceeded to  descend.  We  had  accomplished  an  object  of  laudable 
ambition,  and  beyond  the  strict  order  of  our  instructions.  We  had 
climbed  the  loftiest  peak  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  looked  down 
upon  the  snow  a  thousand  feet  below ;  and,  standing  where  never 
human  foot  had  stood  before,  felt  the  exultation  of  first  explorers.  It 
was  about  two  o'clock  when  we  left  the  summit  ;  and  when  we  reached 
the  bottom,  the  sun  had  already  sunk  behind  the  wall,  and  the  day  was 
drawing  to  a  close.  It  would  have  been  pleasant  to  have  lingered 
here  and  on  the  summit  longer ;  but  we  hurried  away  as  rapidly  as 
the  ground  would  permit,  for  it  was  an  object  to  regain  our  party  as 
soon  as  possible,  not  knowing  what  accident  the  next  hour  might 
bring  forth." 

Fremont's  later  expedition  (1849)  was  attended  by  hardships  and 
sufferings  almost  unparalleled,  showing  so  striking  a  contrast  with 
the  comforts  of  civilization  now  in  the  same  locality,  as  to  seem  in- 
credible. The  following  letter  to  his  wife  gives,  in  detail,  a  terrible 
experience,  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life,  where  now  tourists  go  for 
pleasure : — 

TAGS,  NEW  MEXICO,  Jan.  27,  1849. 

My  Very  Dear  Wife,  —  I  write  to  you  from  the  house  of  our  good  friend  Carson. 
This  morning  a  cup  of  chocolate  was  brought  to  me  while  yet  in  bed.  To  an  over- 
worn, overworked,  much  fatigued,  and  starving  traveller,  these  little  luxuries  of  the 
world  offer  an  interest  which  in  your  comfortable  home  it  is  not  possible  for  you  to 
conceive.  While  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  luxury,  then,  I  pleased  myself  in  imagining 
how  gratified  you  would  be  in  picturing  me  here  in  Kit's  care,  whom  you  will  fancy 
constantly  occupied  and  constantly  uneasy  in  endeavoring  to  make  me  comfortable. 
How  little  could  you  have  dreamed  of  this  while  he  was  enjoying  the  pleasant  hospi- 


226  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

tality  of  your  father's  house !  The  furthest  thing  then  from  your  mind  was  that  he 
would  ever  repay  it  to  me  here. 

But  I  have  now  the  unpleasant  task  of  telling  you  how  I  came  here.  I  had  much 
rather  write  you  some  rambling  letters  in  unison  with  the  repose  in  which  I  feel 
inclined  to  indulge,  and  talk  to  you  about  the  future,  with  which  I  am  already 
busily  occupied ;  about  my  arrangements  for  getting  speedily  down  into  the  more 
pleasant  climate  of  the  lower  Del  Norte,  and  rapidly  through  into  California ;  and 
my  plans  when  I  get  there.  I  have  an  almost  invincible  repugnance  to  going  back 
among  scenes  where  I  have  endured  much  suffering,  and  for  all  the  incidents  and 
circumstances  of  which  I  feel  a  strong  aversion.  But  as  clear  information  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  you,  and  to  your  father  more  particularly  still,  I  will  give  you  the 
story  now,  instead  of  waiting  to  tell  it  to  you  in  California.  But  I  write  in  the  great 
hope  that  you  will  not  receive  this  letter.  When  it  reaches  Washington,  you  may 
be  on  your  way  to  California. 

Former  letters  have  made  you  acquainted  with  our  journey  so  far  as  Bent's  Fort, 
and,  from  report,  you  will  have  heard  the  circumstances  of  our  departure  from  the 
Upper  Pueblo  of  the  Arkansas.  We  left  that  place  about  the  25th  of  November, 
with  upwards  of  a  hundred  good  mules,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  bushels  of 
shelled  corn,  intended  to  support  our  animals  across  the  snow  of  the  high  moun- 
tains, and  down  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  Grand  River  tributaries,  where  usually  the 
snow  forms  no  obstacle  to  winter  travelling.  At  the  Pueblo,  I  had  engaged  as  a 
guide  an  old  trapper,  well  known  as  "  Bill  Williams,"  and  who  had  spent  some 
twenty-five  years  of  his  life  in  trapping  in  various  parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  error  of  our  journey  was  committed  in  engaging  this  man.  He  proved  never  to 
have  in  the  least  known,  or  entirely  to  have  forgotten,  the  whole  region  of  country 
through  which  we  were  to  pass.  We  occupied  more  than  half  a  month  in  making 
the  journey  of  a  few  days,  blundering  a  tortuous  way  through  deep  snows,  which 
already  began  to  choke  up  the  passes,  for  which  we  were  obliged  to  waste  time  in 
searching.  About  the  nth  December  we  found  ourselves  at  the  north  of  the  Del 
Norte  Caflon,  where  that  river  issues  from  the  St.  John's  Mountain,  one  of  the 
highest,  most  rugged,  and  impracticable  of  all  the  Rocky  Mountain  ranges,  inacces- 
sible to  trappers  and  hunters  even  in  the  summer  time.  Across  the  point  of  this 
elevated  range  our  guide  conducted  us;  and,  having  still  great  confidence  in  his 
knowledge,  we  pressed  onwards  with  fatal  resolution.  Even  along  the  river  bottoms 
the  snow  was  already  belly-deep  for  the  mules,  frequently  snowing  in  the  valley,  and 
almost  constantly  in  the  mountains.  The  cold  was  extraordinary ;  at  the  warmest 
hours  of  the  day  (between  one  and  two)  the  thermometer  (Fahrenheit)  standing,  in 
the  shade  of  only  a  tree  trunk,  at  zero ;  the  day  sunshiny,  with  a  moderate  breeze. 
We  pressed  up  towards  the  summit,  the  snow  deepening,  and,  in  four  or  five  days, 
reached  the  naked  ridges  which  lie  above  the  timbered  country,  and  which  form  the 
dividing  grounds  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans.  Along  these 
naked  ridges  it  storms  nearly  all  winter,  and  the  winds  sweep  across  them  with 
remorseless  fury.  On  our  first  attempt  to  cross  we  encountered  a  poudrerie,1  and 
were  driven  back,  having  some  ten  or  twelve  men  variously  frozen,  —  face,  hands, 
or  feet.  The  guide  came  very  nigh  being  frozen  to  death  here,  and  dead  mules  were 
already  lying  about  the  fires.  Meantime  it  snowed  steadily.  The  next  day  we 

1  Dry  snow  driven  through  the  air  by  violent  wind,  and  in  which  objects  are  visible  only 
at  a  short  distance. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


227 


made  mauis,  and,  beating  a  road  or  trench  through  the  snow,  crossed  the  crest  in 
defiance  of  the  poudrerie,  and  encamped  immediately  below  in  the  edge  of  the  tim- 
ber. The  trail  showed  as  if  a  defeated  party  had  passed  by :  pack-saddles  and 
packs,  scattered  articles  of  clothing,  and  dead  mules  strewed  along.  A  contin- 
uance of  stormy  weather  paralyzed  all  movement.  We  were  encamped  somewhere 
about  twelve  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  Westward,  the  country  was  buried  in  deep 
snow.  It  was  impossible  to  advance,  and  to  turn  back  was  equally  impracticable. 
We  were  overtaken  by  sudden  and  inevitable  ruin.  It  so  happened  that  the  only 
places  where  any  grass  could  be  had  were  the  extreme  summit  of  the  ridges,  where 
the  sweeping  winds  kept  the  rocky  ground  bare,  and  the  snow  could  not  lie.  Below 


ENCOUNTERING  THE    BLIZZARD. 

these,  animals  could  not  get  about,  the  snow  being  deep  enough  to  bury  them. 
Here,  therefore,  in  the  fuH  violence  of  the  storms,  we  were  obliged  to  keep  our  ani- 
mals. They  could  not  be  moved  either  way.  It  was  instantly  apparent  that  we 
should  lose  every  animal. 

I  determined  to  recross  the  mountain  more  towards  the  open  country,  and  haul 
or  pack  the  baggage  (by  men)  down  to  the  Del  Norte.  With  great  labor  the  bag- 
gage was  transported  across  the  crest  to  the  head  springs  of  a  little  stream  leading 
to  the  main  river.  A  few  days  were  sufficient  to  destroy  our  fine  band  of  mules. 
They  generally  kept  huddled  together,  and  as  they  froze,  one  would  be  seen  to 
tumble  down  and  the  snow  would  cover  him  ;  sometimes  they  would  break  off  and 
rush  down  towards  the  timber,  until  they  were  stopped  by  the  deep  snow,  where  they 
were  soon  hidden  by  the  poudrerie.  The  courage  of  the  men  failed  fast ;  in  fact,  I 


228  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

have  never  seen  men  so  soon  discouraged  by  misfortune  as  we  were  on  this  occa- 
sion ;  but,  as  you  know,  the  party  was  not  constituted  like  the  former  ones.  But 
among  those  who  deserve  to  be  honorably  mentioned,  and  who  behaved  like  what 
they  were,  —  men' of  the  old  exploring  party,  —  were  Godey,  King,  and  Taplin  ;  and 
first  of  all,  Godey.  In  this  situation,  I  determined  to  send  in  a  party  to  the  Spanish 
settlements  of  New  Mexico  for  provisions  and  mules,  to  transport  our  baggage  to 
Taos.  With  economy,  and  after  we  should  leave  the  mules,  we  had  not  two  weeks1 
provisions  in  the  camp.  These  consisted  of  a  store  which  I  had  reserved  for  a  hard 
day,  macaroni  and  bacon.  From  among  the  volunteers  I  chose  King,  Bracken- 
ridge,  Creutzfeldt,  and  the  guide  Williams :  the  party  under  the  command  of  King. 
In  case  of  the  least  delay  at  the  settlements,  he  was  to  send  me  an  express.  In  the 
meantime  we  were  to  occupy  ourselves  in  removing  the  baggage  and  equipage  down 
to  the  Del  Norte,  which  we  reached  with  our  baggage  in  a  few  days  after  their  depart- 
ure (which  was  the  day  after  Christmas).  Like  many  a  Christmas  for  years  back, 
mine  was  spent  on  the  summit  of  a  wintry  mountain,  my  heart  filled  with  gloomy 
and  anxious  thoughts,  with  none  of  the  merry  faces  and  pleasant  luxuries  that  belong 
to  that  happy  time.  You  may  be  sure  we  contrasted  much  of  this  with  the  last  at 
Washington,  and  speculated  much  on  your  doings,  and  made  many  warm  wishes  for 
your  happiness.  Could  you  have  looked  into  Agrippa's  glass  for  a  few  moments 
only !  You  remember  the  volumes  of  Blackstone  which  I  took  from  your  father's 
library,  when  we  were  overlooking  it  at  our  friend  Brant's  ?  They  made  my  Christ- 
mas amusements.  I  read  them  to  pass  the  heavy  time  and  forget  what  was  around 
me.  Certainly  you  may  suppose  that  my  first  law  lessons  will  be  well  remembered. 
Day  after  day  passed  by  and  no  news  from  our  express  party.  Snow  continued  to 
fall  almost  incessantly  on  the  mountain.  The  spirits  of  the  camp  grew  lower.  Proue 
lay  down  in  the  trail  and  froze  to  death.  In  a  sunshiny  day,  and  having  with  him 
means  to  make  a  fire,  he  threw  his  blankets  down  in  the  trail  and  lay  there  till  he 
froze  to  death.  After  sixteen  days  had  elapsed  from  King's  departure,  I  became  so 
uneasy  at  the  delay  that  I  decided  to  wait  no  longer.  I  was  aware  that  our  troops 
had  been  engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  Spanish  Utahs  and  Apaches,  who  range  in 
the  North  River  valley,  and  became  fearful  that  they  (King's  party)  had  been  cut  off 
by  these  Indians;  I  could  imagine  no  other  accident.  Leaving  the  camp  employed 
with  the  baggage  and  in  charge  of  Mr.  Vincenthaler,  I  started  down  the  river  with 
a  small  party,  consisting  of  Godey  (with  his  young  nephew),  Mr.  Preuss  and  Saun- 
ders.  We  carried  our  arms  and  provision  for  two  or  three  days.  In  the  camp  the 
messes  had  provisions  for  two  or  three  meals,  more  or  less,  and  about  five  pounds 
of  sugar  to  each  man.  Failing  to  meet  King,  my  intention  was  to  make  the  Red 
River  settlement,  about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Taos,  and  send  back  tha  speediest 
relief  possible.  My  instructions  to  the  camp  were,  that  if  they  did  not  hear  from 
me  within  a  stated  time,  they  were  to  follow  down  the  Del  Norte. 

On  the  second  day  after  leaving  camp  we  came  upon  a  fresh  trail  of  Indians,  — 
two  lodges,  with  a  considerable  number  of  animals.  This  did  not  lessen  our  uneasi- 
ness for  our  people.  As  their  trail,  when  we  met  it,  turned  and  went  down  the 
river,  we  followed  it.  On  the  fifth  day  we  surprised  an  Indian  on  the  ice  of  the 
river.  He  proved  to  be  a  Utah,  son  of  a  Grand  River  chief  we  had  formerly  known, 
and  behaved  to  us  in  a  friendly  manner.  We  encamped  near  them  at  night.  By  a 
present  of  a  rifle,  my  two  blankets,  and  other  promised  rewards  when  we  should  get 
in,  I  prevailed  upon  this  Indian  to  go  with  us  as  a  guide  to  the  Red  River  settle- 
ment, and  take  with  him  four  of  his  horses,  principally  to  carry  our  little  baggage. 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE.  22C) 

These  were  wretchedly  poor,  and  could  get  along  only  in  a  very  slow  walk.  On  that 
day  (the  sixth)  we  left  the  lodges  late,  and  travelled  only  some  six  or  seven  miles. 
About  sunset  we  discovered  a  little  smoke  in  a  grove  of  timber  off  from  the  river, 
and  thinking  perhaps  it  might  be  our  express  party  on  its  return,  we  went  to  see. 
This  was  the  twenty-second  day  since  they  had  left  us,  and  the  sixth  since  we  had 
left  the  camp.  We  fou  id  them,  —  three  of  them,  —  Creutzfeldt,  Brackenridge,  and 
Williams,  the  most  miserable  objects  I  have  ever  seen.  I  did  not  recognize  Creutz- 
feldt's  features  when  Brackenridge  brought  him  up  to  me  and  mentioned  his  name. 
They  had  been  starving.  King  had  starved  to  death  a  few  days  before.  His  remains 
were  some  six  or  eight  miles  above,  near  the  river.  By  aid  of  the  horses,  we  carried 
these  three  with  us  to  Red  River  settlement,  which  we  reached  (Jan.  20)  on  the 
tenth  evening  after  leaving  our  camp  in  the  mountains,  having  travelled  through 
snow  and  on  foot  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  I  look  upon  the  anxiety  which 
induced  me  to  set  out  from  the  camp  as  an  inspiration.  Had  I  remained  there  wait- 
ing the  party  which  had  been  sent  in,  every  man  of  us  would  probably  have  per- 
ished. 

The  morning  after  reaching  the  Red  River  town,  Godey  and  myself  rode  on  to 
the  Rio  Hondo  and  Taos,  in  search  of  animals  and  supplies,  and  on  the  second 
evening  after  that  on  which  we  had  reached  Red  River,  Godey  had  returned  to  that 
place  with  about  thirty  animals,  provisions,  and  four  Mexicans,  with  which  he  set 
out  for  the  camp  on  the  following  morning.  On  the  road  he  received  eight  or  ten 
others,  which  were  turned  over  to  him  by  the  orders  of  Major  Beale,  the  command- 
ing officer  of  this  northern  district  of  New  Mexico.  I  expect  that  Godey  will  reach 
this  place  with  the  party  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  3ist.  From  Major  Beale  I 
received  the  offer  of  every  aid  in  his  power,  and  such  actual  assistance  as  he  was 
able  to  render.  Some  horses  which  he  had  just  recovered  from  the  Utahs  were 
loaned  to  me,  and  he  supplied  me  from  the  commissary's  department  with  provisions 
which  I  could  have  had  nowhere  else.  I  find  myself  in  the  midst  of  friends.  With 
Carson  is  living  Owens,  and  Maxwell  is  at  his  father-in-law's,  doing  a  very  prosper- 
ous business  as  a  merchant  and  contractor  for  the  troops. 

TAOS,  NEW  MEXICO,  Feb.  6,  1849. 

After  a  long  delay,  which  had  wearied  me  to  the  point  of  resolving  to  set  out 
again  myself,  tidings  have  at  last  reached  me  from  my  ill-fated  party.  Mr.  Haler 
came  in  last  night,  having,  the  night  before,  reached  Red  River  settlement,  with 
some  three  or  four  others.  Including  Mr.  King  and  Proue,  we  have  lost  eleven  of 
our  party.  Occurrences,  after  I  left  them,  are  briefly  these,  so  far  as  they  are  within 
Halers  knowledge.  I  say  briefly,  my  dear  Jessie,  because  now  I  am  unwilling  to 
force  myself  to  dwell  upon  particulars.  I  wish  for  a  time  to  shut  out  these  things 
from  my  mind,  to  leave  this  country,  and  all  thoughts  and  all  things  connected  with 
recent  events,  which  have  been  so  signally  disastrous  as  absolutely  to  astonish  me 
with  a  persistence  of  misfortune,  which  no  precaution  has  been  adequate  on  my  part 
to  avert. 

You  will  remember  that  I  had  left  the  camp  with  occupation  sufficient  to  employ 
them  for  three  or  four  days,  after  which  they  were  to  follow  me  down  the  river. 
Within  that  time  I  had  expected  the  relief  from  King,  if  it  was  to  come  at  all. 

They  remained  where  I  had  left  them  seven  days,  and  then  started  down  the 
river.  Manuel  —  you  will  remember  Manuel,  the  Cosumne  Indian  —  gave  way  to  a 


230 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 


feeling  of  despair  after  they  had  travelled  about  two  miles,  begged  Haler  to  shoot 
him,  and  then  turned  and  made  his  way  back  to  the  camp,  intending  to  die  there, 
as  he  doubtless  soon  did.  They  followed  our  trail  down  the  river,  —  twenty-two 
men  they  were  in  all.  About  ten  miles  below  the  camp,  Wise  gave  out,  threw  away 
his  gun  and  blanket,  and  a  few  hundred  yards  further  fell  over  into  the  snow  and 
died.  Two  Indian  boys,  young  men,  countrymen  of  Manuel,  were  behind.  They 
rolled  up  Wise  in  his  blanket  and  buried  him  in  the  snow  on  the  river  bank.  No 
more  died  that  day;  none  the  next.  Carver  raved  during  the  night,  his  imagina- 
tion wholly  occupied  with  images  of  many  things  which  he  fancied  himself  eating. 


LEAVING  THE  WEAK  TO  DIE. 


In  the  morning,  he  wandered  off  from  the  party,  and  probably  soon  died.  They  did 
not  see  him  again.  Sorel  on  this  day  gave  out  and  lay  down  to  die.  They  built 
him  a  fire,  and  Morin,  who  was  in  a  dying  condition,  and  snow-blind,  remained. 
These  two  did  not  probably  last  till  the  next  morning.  That  evening,  I  think, 
Hubbard  killed  a  deer.  They  travelled  on,  getting  here  and  there  a  grouse,  but 
probably  nothing  else,  the  snow  having  frightened  off  the  game.  Things  were  des- 
perate, and  brought  Haler  to  the  determination  of  breaking  up  the  party,  in  order 
to  prevent  them  from  living  upon  each  other.  He  told  them  "  that  he  had  done  all 
he  could  for  them,  that  they  had  no  other  hope  remaining  than  the  expected  relief, 
and  that  their  best  plan  was  to  scatter  and  make  the  best  of  their  way  in  small 
parties  down  the  river.  That,  for  his  part,  if  he  was  to  be  eaten,  he  would,  at  all 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  231 

events,  be  found  travelling  when  he  did  die."  They  accordingly  separated.  With 
Mr.  Haler  continued  five  others  and  the  two  Indian  boys.  Rohrer  now  became  very 
despondent;  Haler  encouraged  him  by  recalling  to  mind  his  family,  and  urged  him 
to  hold  out  a  little  longer.  On  this  day  he  fell  behind,  but  promised  to  overtake 
them  at  evening.  Haler,  Scott,  Hubbard,  and  Martin  agreed  that  if  any  one  of  them 
should  give  out,  the  others  were  not  to  wait  for  him  to  die,  but  build  a  fire  for  him 
and  push  on.  At  night  Kern's  mess  encamped  a  few  hundred  yards  from  Haler's, 
with  the  intention,  according  to  Taplin,  to  remain  where  they  were  until  the  relief 
should  come,  and  in  the  meantime  to  live  upon  those  who  had  died,  and  upon  the 
weaker  ones  as  they  should  die.  With  the  three  Kerns  were  Cathcart,  Andrews, 
McKie,  Stepperfeldt,  and  Taplin. 

Ferguson  and  Beadle  had  remained  together  behind.  In  the  evening  Rohrer 
came  up  and  remained  with  Kern's  mess.  Mr.  Haler  learnt  afterwards  from  that 
mess  that  Rohrer  and  Andrews  wandered  off  the  next  day  and  died.  They  say 
they  saw  their  bodies.  In  the  morning  Haler's  party  continued  on.  After  a  few 
hours  Hubbard  gave  out.  They  built  him  a  fire,  gathered  him  some  wood,  and  left 
him,  without,  as  Haler  says,  turning  their  heads  to  look  at  him.  as  they  went  off. 
About  two  miles  further,  Scott  —  you  remember  Scott,  who  used  to  shoot  birds  for 
you  at  the  frontier  —  gave  out.  They  did  the  same  for  him  as  for  Hubbard,  and 
continued  on.  In  the  afternoon  the  Indian  boys  went  ahead,  and  before  nightfall 
met  Godey  with  the  relief.  Haler  heard  and  knew  the  guns  which  he  fired  for  him 
at  night,  and  starting  early  in  the  morning,  soon  met  him.  I  hear  that  they  all 
cried  together  like  children.  Haler  turned  back  with  Godey,  and  went  with  him  to 
where  they  had  left  Scott.  He  was  still  alive  and  was  saved.  Hubbard  was  dead, 
—  still  warm.  From  the  Kerns'  mess  they  learned  the  death  of  Andrews  and 
Rohrer,  and  a  little  above  met  Ferguson,  who  told  them  that  Beadle  had  died  the 
night  before. 

Godey  continued  on  with  a  few  New  Mexicans  and  pack  mules  to  bring  down 
the  baggage  from  the  camp.  Haler,  with  Martin  and  Bacon,  on  foot,  and  bringing 
Scott  on  horseback,  have  first  arrived  at  the  Red  River  settlement.  Provisions, 
and  horses  for  them  to  ride,  were  left  with  the  others,  who  preferred  to  rest  on  the 
river  until  Godey  came  back.  At  the  latest,  they  should  all  have  reached  Red 
River  settlement  last  night,  and  ought  all  to  be  here  this  evening.  When  Godey 
arrives,  I  shall  know  from  him  all  the  circumstances  sufficiently  in  detail  to  enable 
me  to  understand  clearly  everything.  But  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  tell  you  any- 
thing further.  It  has  been  sufficient  pain  for  you  to  read  what  I  have  already 
written. 

When  I  think  of  you  all,  I  feel  a  warm  glow  at  my  heart,  which  renovates  it  like 
a  good  medicine,  and  I  forget  painful  feelings  in  strong  hope  for  the  future.  We 
shall  yet,  dearest  wife,  enjoy  quiet  and  happiness  together — these  are  nearly  one 
and  the  same  to  me  now.  I  make  frequently  pleasant  pictures  of  ,the  happy  home 
we  are  to  have,  and  oftenest.  and  among  the  pleasantest  of  all,  I  see  our  library  with 
its  bright  fire  in  the  rainy  stormy  days,  and  the  large  windows  looking  out  upon  the 
sea  in  the  bright  weather.  I  have  it  all  planned  in  my  own  mind.  It  is  getting  late 
now.  La  Harpe  says  that  there  are  two  gods  which  are  very  dear  to  us,  —  Hope  and 
Sleep.  My  homage  shall  be  equally  divided  between  them ;  both  make  the  time 
pass  lightly  until  I  see  you,  and  so  I  go  now  to  pay  a  willing  tribute  to  the  one  with 
my  heart  full  of  the  other.  Good  night. 


232  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

No  longer  ago  than  1854  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Benton,  of  national 
reputation,  and  his  son-in-law,  John  C.  Fremont,  whose  explorations 
from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Pacific  coast  had  made  him  known 
world-wide,  became  enthusiastic  over  the  project  of  building  a  rail- 
road over  the  Rocky  Mountains.  t  Fremont's  last  two  expeditions 
were  undertaken,  at  his  own  and  Colonel  Benton's  expense,  for  the 
purpose,  mainly,  of  settling  the  question  whether  it  would  be  practi- 
cable to  run  cars  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  winter,  when 
storms  are  terrific  and  snows  deep. 

It  was  necessary  for  Fremont  to  undertake  his  expeditions  in  win- 
ter-time, in  order  to  test  the  question  satisfactorily.  We  need 
scarcely  say  that  the  hardships  and  perils  of  such  an  enterprise  were 
many  and  great.  Fremont  and  his  men  never  learned  more  of  cold 
and  hunger  by  experience  than  they  did  in  that  expedition.  At  one 
time,  as  news  from  the  explorers  had  not  been  received  for  several 
weeks,  the  public  feared  that  the  whole  party  had  perished.  The 
National  Intelligencer  of  April  12,  1854,  said  :  — 

"  It  gives  us  great  pleasure  to  insert  the  subjoined  letter  from 
Colonel  Fremont,  not  only  because  it  contradicts  the  exaggerated 
reports  of  deaths  sustained  by  his  party,  and  assures  us  of  the  in- 
trepid explorer's  own  safety,  after  his  two  months'  bold  journey 
through  the  mountain  wilds  in  midwinter,  but  because  his  success 
seems  fully  to  have  established  the  favorable  nature  of  the  central 
route  for  a  railroad,  in  winter  as  well  as  summer." 

Bear  in  mind,  reader,  that  our  purpose  is  to  show,  the  marvel  of 
enterprise  in  the  New  West,  which  can  be  done  well  only  by  a  clear 
and  distinct  understanding  of  the  condition  of  the  country  west  of 
the  Missouri  physically,  as  well  as  socially  and  morally,  less  than 
forty  years  ago.  Such  experience  as  that  of  Fremont  seems  scarcely 
possible  to  the  tourist  now,  who  travels  from  the  Missouri  River  to 
San  Francisco  in  a  Pullman  car  in  four  days. 

Before  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848,  few  but 
explorers,  fur-traders,  trappers,  and  hunters,  ventured  to  cross  the 
Missouri  River  into  the  wilderness.  The  discovery  of  gold,  however, 
on  the  Pacific  Slope,  created  the  wildest  enthusiasm  throughout  the 
land,  and  a  tide  of  emigration  to  California  set  in.  Hundreds  and 
thousands  of  ill-fated  adventurers  crossed  the  Missouri,  to  die  by 
savage  violence  or  starvation  on  the  "  Great  Plains  "  or  in  the  moun- 
tains. The  tragic  end  of  individuals  and  companies  who  miserably 
perished  on  their  way  to  the  "  Golden  Gate,"  less  than  forty  years 
ago,  would  fill  volumes  with  tales  more  harrowing  than  fiction.  The 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


233 


known  starvation  or  massacre  of  one  company  of  emigrants  did  not 
deter  another  from  the  hazardous  undertaking.  A  continuous  stream 
of  men,  wild  with  the  gold-mania,  poured  over  the  plains  and  through 
the  mountains,  —  some  of  them  to  success,  but  more  to  death. 

Freighters  called  these  baggage-wagons  "  prairie-schooners." 
Oxen,  mules,  and  horses  were  used  to  draw  them,  from  two  to  ten 
to  each  team.  It  was  not  unusual  for  oxen,  horses,  and  mules,  to  be 
hitched  to  the  same  "  schooner."  Emigrants  travelled  in  caravans  as 
much  as  possible,  well  armed,  to  protect  themselves  when  savages 
attacked  them.  Wild  beasts,  wilder  Indians,  and  "  Latter-Day 
Saints  "  made  the  journey  extremely  perilous. 


OVER  THE  PLAINS  THEN. 


The  discovery  of  gold  in  Colorado,  in  1858,  created  even  greater 
excitement  throughout  the  country  than  did  its  discovery  ten  years 
before  in  California.  Emigration  rolled  towards  the  new  Eldorado 
with  unexampled  rapidity.  A  more  motley  tide  of  humanity  never 
set  in,  north,  south,  east,  or  west.  The  year  1859  w^^  ever  be  memo- 
rable for  the  number  and  miscellaneous  character  of  travellers  to 
Pike's  Peak.  Old  men  and  mere  boys,  educated  and  ignorant,  saints 
and  sinners,  philanthropists  and  robbers,  professional  and  lay,  —  all 
defied  hunger,  cold,  nakedness,  and  Indians,  in  their  red-hot  enthu- 
siasm for  gold-digging.  The  "  Great  Plains  "  swarmed  with  all  sorts 
of  animals  and  vehicles,  conveying  men,  and  some  women,  with  goods 
and  chattels,  to  the  gold  region.  It  was  not  unusual  for  an  ox,  mule, 


234 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


donkey,  and  even  cow,  to  appear  in  the  motley  cavalcade,  heavily 
loaded  with  the  property  of  its  enthused  proprietor.  The  illustration 
is  no  fancy  sketch  :  it  represents  what  many  men  now  living  beheld 
on  the  Plains.  It  is  claimed,  even,  that  one  party  crossed  the  Plains, 
carrying  his  outfit  on  a  wheelbarrow  ;  and  others  drew  hand-carts. 

Many  of  the  white-topped  wagons  bore  amusing  inscriptions,  as 
follows  :  on  a  wagon  drawn  by  two  yoke  of  oxen,  moving  at  a  snail's 
pace,  appeared  in  large  letters,  "  Lightning  Express "  ;  on  another 


-   j 


LIGHTNING  EXPRESS. 

wagon,  "Pike's  Peak  or  Bust";  on  another,  "Root  Hog  or  Die"; 
and  so  on  ad  infinitum. 

Few  imagined  what  sufferings  they  might  experience  in  their  new 
adventure  ;  most  of  them  had  their  only  laugh  in  the  early  part  of 
their  journey.  The  ox-team  conveyed  them  to  disappointment,  hun- 
ger, and  death  in  a  briefer  period  than  they  dreamed  of.  Miss  Hill, 
in  her  "  Tales  of  Colorado  Pioneers,"  has  the  following,  which  she 
received  from  one  Mrs.  Barney  :  — 

"  I  was  in  the  first  coach  of  the  '  Leavenworth  and  Pike's  Peak 
Express  Company,'  which  arrived  in  Denver  on  the  seventh  day  of 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  235 

May,  1859.  The  supply  wagons  were  sent  on  ahead,  locating  the 
stations,  and  every  twenty-five  miles  they  would  drop  a  tent,  a  stove, 
and  a  cook.  At  that  season  of  the  year  the  twilight  is  short»  so  when 
we  drew  up  at  the  station  for  supper  it  was  quite  dark.  When  I 
entered  the  tent  I  saw  the  most  soul-sickening  sight  that  my  eyes 
ever  rested  upon,  and  the  flickering  light  of  the  candle  added  inten- 
sity to  the  horror.  .  .  .  The  poor  man,  from  starvation,  was  reduced 
to  a  living  skeleton.  He  was  in  the  last  stages  of  exhaustion  when 
an  Indian  found  him  and  brought  him  to  the  tent.  After  he  was 
refreshed  with  food  and  stimulants  he  told  his  sickening  story. 

"  Three  brothers  set  out  from  Illinois  in  a  one-horse  cart  for  the 
gold  region.  From  Leavenworth  they  took  the  Smoky  Hill  route. 
Guided  by  incorrect  ideas  of  the  distance,  they  were  poorly  prepared 
for  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  and  their  provisions  gave  out  before 
they  were  half  way.  They  killed  their  horse  for  food  and  loaded 
their  cart  with  it,  taking  turns  in  the  harness  of  the  slaughtered 
animal.  It  was  tedious,  and  their  strength  was  rapidly  going.  When 
the  last  piece  of  flesh  was  gone,  they  sat  down  in  despair  to  die,  for 
they  had  wandered  away  from  the  trail  in  search  of  water,  and  had 
no  hope  of  being  found  by  a  human  being.  One  sank  faster  than 
the  others,  and  when  dying  requested  the  surviving  brothers  to  live 
upon  his  flesh  and  try  to  get  through.  He  died,  and  they  com- 
menced their  cannibalistic  feast  —  ate  the  body,  and  again  saw  star- 
vation staring  them  in  the  face.  Another  died,  which  furnished  food 
to  the  remaining  brother. 

"  Mr.  Williams,  conductor  of  the  Express,  after  hearing  the  story, 
had  the  Indian  pilot  him  to  the  spot,  where  he  found  the  bones  of 
the  one  who  died  last,  and  buried  them. 

"  We  took  the  miserable,  famished  creature  in  the  coach  to  Denver. 
His  body  regained  health  and  strength,  but  his  mind  was  gone.  He 
remained  always  an  imbecile.  The  citizens  of  Denver  made  up  a 
purse  and  sent  him  to  his  friends  in  'the  States.' ' 

A  story  stranger  than  fiction  has  just  been  told  us  by  a  gentle- 
man who  reached  Denver  early  in  the  spring  of  1859.  With  two 
companions  he  drew  a  hand-cart,  containing  their  effects,  from 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  to  Denver,  Col.,  a  distance  of  six  hundred  miles. 
On  the  way  they  crossed  the  route  of  a  team  from  Texas,  laden 
with  flour  and  other  stores.  This  gentleman  purchased  a  sack  of 
flour  of  the  teamster,  and  transferred  it  to  the  hand-cart.  On  reach- 
ing Denver,  where  some  thirty  men  had  wintered,  he  found  a  scarcity 
of  provision,  and  the  Cherry  Creek  gold  mania  a  delusion.  There 


2*6 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


was  not  a  spoonful  of  flour  in  the  camp ;  and  as  the  search  for  gold 
had  proved  vain,  there  was  a  general  desire  among  the  men  to  escape 
from  th^r  dilemma.  Our  informant  was  offered  a  "corner  lot"  for 
one-half  of  his  sack  of  flour,  and  two  other  lots  in  addition,  for  the 
whole  of  it.  He  refused  the  offer,  thinking  that  he  might  need  it  to 
keep  his  own  soul  and  body  together.  Neither  he  nor  any  one  else 
dreamed  of  the  influx  of  people,  in  six  weeks  from  that  time,  when 
they  came  by  the  thousand  ;  otherwise  he  would  have  parted  with  the 


CROSSING  THE    PLAINS  WITH  A  HAND-CART. 

flour.  Had  he  sold  it  for  the  three  "lots,"  he  would  have  realized, 
within  three  or  six  months,  from  eight  thousand  to  ten  thousand 
dollars  for  his  sack  of  flour. 

It  is  not  strange  that  many  of  the  best  class  of  gold-seekers  started 
homeward  soon  after  reaching  the  gold  country.  Privations  and 
home-sickness  forced  their  return.  In  addition,  a  large  class  of  shift- 
less characters,  who  supposed  that  nuggets  of  gold  could  be  picked 
up  anywhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  were  maddened 
by  disappointment,  and  they,  too,  stampeded.  So  that,  for  two  or 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


237 


three  years,  and  longer,  perhaps,  the  plains  witnessed  two  large 
streams  of  humanity,  one  going  to,  and  the  other  returning  from,  the 
gold  country.  The  white-covered  wagon  that  bore  the  inscription 
"  Pike's  Peak  or  Bust  "  on  its  outward  trip,  returned  with  this  inscrip- 
tion under  the  former,  "Busted  by  Thunder."  Most  of  them  declared 
that  Pike's  Peak  as  a  gold  region  was  a  hoax.  One  D.  C.  Oakes, 
who  had  induced  many  men  to  go  to  Colorado  by  a  pamphlet  that  he 
published,  setting  forth  the  richness  of  the  gold  mines,  came  near 


PERILS  OF  D.  C.   OAKES. 


losing  his  life.  He  had  been  to  the  "  States,"  and  was  returning 
with  a  saw-mill,  when  he  met  a  large  company  of  returning  fortune- 
seekers  on  the  plains,  who  charged  him  with  deceiving  them,  and 
threatened  to  destroy  his  mill  and  take  vengeance  on  himself.  But 
finally  he  was  allowed  to  proceed,  the  exasperated  stampeders  con- 
tenting themselves  with  hurling  hard  names  at  him.  Mr.  Oakes  had 
not  proceeded  far  before  he  came  upon  a  new-made  grave,  on  which 
the  bleached  shoulder-blade  of  a  buffalo  lay,  bearing  the  following 
inscription  :  — 


238  MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of 

D.  C.  OAKES, 
Killed  for  aiding  the  Pike's  Peak  hoax." 

The  party  of  disappointed  gold-hunters  who  had  just  interviewed 
him  had  buried  him  in  effigy.  Subsequent  developments  proved 
that  the  gold-cry  was  not  a  hoax.  There  was  plenty  of  gold,  but 
many  of  its  seekers  lacked  the  enterprise,  perseverance,  and  strength 
to  find  it. 


CAPTURE  OF  "SPOTTED  HORSE." 

The  Indians  were  a  constant  menace  to  the  emigrants  over  the 
plains  from  the  outset ;  and  they  continued  their  depredations,  grow- 
ing bolder  and  bolder,  until  their  hostility  culminated  in  the  atrocities 
of  1864.  "Spotted  Horse"  was  a  noted  chief,  who  led  a  band  of 
blood-thirsty.  Indians,  causing  a  "reign  of  terror"  in  the  valley  of 
the  Platte.  Houses  and  cabins  were  attacked  by  the  savages,  and 
whole  families,  men,  women,  and  children,  murdered.  For  a  distance 
of  two  hundred  miles  and  more,  Spotted  Horse  swept  over  the 
country  with  his  painted  warriors,  burning,  terrifying,  robbing,  and 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  239 

murdering  defenceless  people.  The  government  soldiers  at  Fort 
Kearney  were  of  no  more  use  than  so  many  bundles  of  straw  in 
checking  these  warlike  demonstrations.  The  pioneers  saw  that 
unless* death  was  meted  out  to  Spotted  Horse  and  his  band,  starva- 
tion and  the  tomahawk  would  exterminate  them.  So  they  moved  in 
the  matter  as  pioneers  will,  and  the  result  was  that  Major  Downing, 
with  a  part  of  the  Colorado  First  Regiment,  which  had  just  re- 
turned from  New  Mexico,  where  it  had  been  to  conquer  the  rebellion, 
was  ordered  to  take  the  field  against  the  Indians.  He  immediately 
marched  to  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  near  the  American  ranch,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Denver,  and  pitched  his  tent  a  few  miles 
distant  from  it.  Miss  Hill  says  :  — 

"  As  he  sat  in  his  camp  one  morning  viewing  the  country  through 
a  field-glass,  he  saw  a  man  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river.  He  immediately  detached  ten  or  twelve  men 
to  capture  him,  and  if  possible  bring  him  to  the  camp  alive ;  for  he 
knew  from  his  walk  that  he  was  an  Indian,  probably  one  of  their 
scouts  on  a  tour  of  observation. 

"  When  brought  into  camp,  he  proved  to  be  none  other  than  the 
famous  Spotted  Horse. 

"The  Major  surveyed  him  for  awhile  in  meditative  serenity;  then 
offered  the  Indian,  who  stood  in  sullen  silence,  his  life,  if  he  would 
surrender  his  band.  This  he  refused  to  do. 

"  He  then  ordered  his  men  to  drive  a  stake  and  prepare  to  roast 
the  Indian  alive. 

"The  chief  gathered  his  coat  about  him,  and  sat  contemplating 
his  funeral  pyre  with  stoical  indifference. 

"  When  the  fire  was  kindled  the  Major  gave  orders  to  bind  him 
to  the  stake,  saying,  '  You  have  seen  many  a  white  man  die  this 
horrible  death,  and  now  we  propose  to  let  you  know  how  it  is  your- 
self.' , 

"  This  unnerved  him  ;  he  pleaded  for  his  life,  and  promised  to  lead 
the  soldiers  to  his  camp.  The  terms  were  agreed  upon,  and  in  the 
shortest  possible  time  the  command  was  moving,  with  Spotted  Horse 
strapped  on  a  horse  in  advance. 

"  They  camped  that  night  in  a  little  ravine,  and  the  chief  informed 
them  that  his  warriors  were  only  a  few  miles  ahead,  up  the  canon  that 
they  were  approaching. 

"About  eleven  o'clock  at  night  the  Major  and  his  command  stole 
away,  leaving  the  camp-fires  burning  to  make  the  Indian  scouts  believe 
that  they  were  still  there.  Reaching  the  spot  designated  by  Spotted 


240 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Horse  early  in  the  morning,  the  order  was  given  to  halt  and  form  in 
line  of  battle. 

"  At  a  given  signal  he  opened  fire.  The  Indians  made  a  bold 
resistance,  but  finally  surrendered. 

"  This  was  the  first  Indian  battle  in  Colorado,  and  the  result  was, 
forty  killed  and  one  hundred  wounded,  their  village  destroyed  and 
their  chief  a  prisoner." 

Then  the  Third  Regiment  was  enlisted  for  a  hundred  days  in  a 
campaign  against  the  Indians.  On  the  29th  of  November  Governor 


PERILS  BY  INDIANS 


Evans  issued  a  proclamation  of  war  against  the  Arapahoes,  Chey- 
ennes,  Sioux,  and  all  others  who  were  raiding  upon  the  settlers. 
The  battle  of  Sand  Creek,  led  by  Colonel  Chivington,  followed,  in 
which  the  savages  were  conquered.  Colonel  Chivington  was  charged 
with  unnecessary  brutality  by  men  who  knew  little  about  the  affair, 
because  the  Indians  were  generally  slaughtered.  But  the  Western 
people,  who  understood  the  situation  well,  have  not  ceased  to  praise 
Colonel  Chivington  and  his  heroic  command  for  removing  the  cause 
of  their  chief  calamities.  That  battle  put  an  end  to  the  Indian  hos- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  241 

tilities  for  fifteen  years,  and  relieved  a  terror-stricken  people  as  no 
conciliatory  policy  could  have  done. 

In  September,  1883,  the  Pike's  Peak  Pioneers  of  '58  celebrated, 
in  Denver,  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  their  arrival  in  the  gold 
country ;  and,  at  the  banquet,  Colonel  Chivington,  by  request,  gave 
an  account  of  the  Sand  Creek  battle,  which  we  quote  here,  in  justice 
to  a  patriotic  and  fearless  officer  :  — 

"  After  many  requests,  I  write  this  brief  and  hasty  sketch  of  that 
famous,  or  infamous,  battle  —  famous,  when  looked  upon  by  those 
who  know  most  about  it ;  infamous,  when  looked  at  by  those  who 
know  least  of  it.  Years  have  fled  away ;  the  smoke  of  battle  has 
lifted  ;  and  time,  the  Great  Revealer,  has  placed  his  seal  upon  this 
and  contemporary  events.  If  anything  can  be  justified  by  its  effects, 
then  the  noble,  daring,  sacrificing,  heroic  men,  who  left  their  lucra- 
tive employments  and  callings,  to  brook  the  hardships,  privations,  and 
dangers  of  a  winter  campaign  on  the  plains,  against  the  marauding, 
thieving,  and  murdering  Cheyenne  and  Arapahoe  Indians,  must  stand 
justified.  Pre-eminently  so. 

"  These  men  were  not  murderers  of  innocent,  helpless  women,  as 
some  silly  people  believe.  What  are  the  exact  facts  in  the  premises  ? 
On  the  1 3th  day  of  April,  1864,  a  herdsman,  of  Irvin,  Jackman  &  Co., 
government  freighters,  came  into  district  headquarters,  and  reported 
that  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  had  driven  off  about  sixty  head 
of  their  work-oxen  and  ten  or  twelve  head  of  mules  and  horses  from 
the  winter  camp  on  Kiowa,  some  thirty  miles  south  of  Denver.  The 
district  commander  sent  orders  to  Captain  Sanborn,  in  command  of 
troops  on  the  Platte,  below  Denver,  to  send  out  a  detachment  to 
intercept  the  Indians  where  they  would  cross  the  river,  and  recover 
the  stolen  stock,  and  return  it  to  its  owners ;  but  be  careful,  if 
possible,  to  avoid  a  fight  with  the  Indians  The  troops  were  sent 
under  command  of  Lieut.  Clark  Dunn,  a  careful  and  prudent  officer. 
The  Indians  were  overtaken,  as  was  expected,  just  as  they  were 
crossing  the  river.  Lieutenant  Dunn  crossed  over  to  the  side  where 
the  Indians  were,  and  engaged  them  in  a  parley  or  talk  about  the 
stolen  stock.  While  this  was  going  on,  Dunn  discovered  that  the 
Indians  were  running  off  the  stock.  A  blinding  snow-storm  was  in 
progress  ;  and  Dunn  told  the  chiefs  that  they  must  stop  running  the 
stock  away,  or  he  would  be  compelled  to  take  it  by  force.  This 
incensed  the  Indian  chief  so  much  that  he  gave  a  signal,  and  the 
Indians  fired  on  the  Lieutenant  when  in  treaty  under  a  flag  of  truce. 
Of  course,  the  troops  rode  to  the  rescue  of  their  officers.  The 


242  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEIV  WEST. 

Indians  outnumbered  Dunn's  forces  four  to  one.  Darkness  had  now 
set  in.  Hence,  the  Indians  escaped  with  their  booty. 

"From  this  time  on,  all  spring,  summer,  and  autumn,  these  Indians, 
joined  by  others,  were  raiding  the  Platte  and  Arkansas  river  routes 
of  travel,  and  the  out-settlements  and  stockmen's  herds,  stealing 
horses,  mules,  and  cattle ;  robbing  and  burning  houses  and  other 
buildings,  attacking  trains  loaded  with  merchandise  for  Denver  mer- 
chants and  traders,  killing  the  drivers  and  those  in  charge,  carrying 
off  what  they  could,  and  burning  the  wagons  and  remaining  contents  ; 
murdering  and  mutilating  whole  families,  men,  women,  and  children, 
in  a  «manner  too  shocking  to  write  or  speak  off.  All  these  long 
months,  and  in  the  midst  of  general  alarm,  not  only  of  those  occu- 
pying the  outposts,  but  of  the  dwellers  occupying  the  villages,  the 
men  in  the  city  of  Denver  feared  for  the  worst.  There  were  only 
troops  in  the  district  sufficient  to  escort  and  protect  the  United 
States  mails,  and  garrison  the  posts  and  camps,  and  to  send  detach- 
ments in  pursuit  of  raiding  bands  of  Indians." 

After  rehearsing  the  manner  of  raising  the  Third  Regiment, 
for  a  hundred  days,  and  the  hurried  march  to  the  scene  of  conflict, 
Colonel  Chivington  continues  :  — 

"  On  the  night  of  November  27,  the  command  camped  on  the 
Arkansas  River,  eight  miles  above  Fort  Lyon ;  and  the  arrangement 
of  the  campaign  may  be  judged  of  when  it  is  stated  that,  on  the 
morning  of  the  28th,  the  command  broke  camp,  and  marched  into 
Fort  Lyon,  before  the  garrison  of  the  post  was  aware  of  its  approach. 
Here  the  command  rested  till  dark,  when  —  joined  by  two  companies 
of  the  First  Cavalry,  of  Colorado,  under  command  of  Maj.  Scott  J. 
Anthony  —  it  marched  for  the  camp  of  the  hostiles,  about  forty  miles 
distant.  About  midnight,  the  guide  reported  himself  lost,  and  said 
that  Jim  Beckwith,  on  whom  he  had  depended  for  the  last  part  of  the 
route,  was  so  blind  from  age  and  cold,  that  he  was  not  willing  to  pro- 
ceed further  till  daylight.  Major  Anthony  had  Jack  Smith,  a  half- 
breed  Cheyenne,  with  his  command,  whose  knowledge  of  the  country 
was  brought  into  requisition,  and  the  command  moved  on,  as  noise- 
lessly as  possible,  until  within  eight  or  ten  miles  of  the  Indian  camp, 
when  Jack  told  Colonel  Chivington  that  any  further  advance  would 
be  likely  to  result  in  the  Indians  taking  flight  and  running  away ; 
saying  :  '  Wolfe,  he  howle  ;  Injun  doge,  he  hear  wolfe,  and  doge  howle, 
too.  Injun,  he  hear  doge  and  listen,  —  hear  something,  and  run  off.' 
Colonel  Chivington  told  Jack  that  he  had  not  had  an  Indian  to  eat  for 
some  time,  and  if  he  fooled  him,  and  did  not  take  him  to  the  camp 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  243 

of  the  hostiles,  that  he  would  have  him,  'Jack,'  for  breakfast.  The 
march  was  resumed,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  'wolfe'  and  'doge.' 
At  early  dawn,  Colonel  Chivington  and  Shoup,  who  were  one-half  or 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  advance  of  the  command,  had  the  Indian 
camp  pointed  out  to  them  by  Jack  Smith,  who  was  at  once  sent  to 
the  rear.  The  column  was  halted,  and  two  detachments  were  sent  to 
cut  off  the  herds  of  ponies,  which  were  on  two  opposite  sides  of  the 
camp,  and  probably  each  a  mile  out  from  camp.  The  officers  in 
charge  of  these  detachments  were  strictly  commanded  not  to  permit 
any  firing  on  the  Indians,  unless  they  were  first  fired  upon.  The 
herd  of  ponies  farthest  from  us  took  the  alarm  first,  and  headed  "and 
ran  for  camp.  In  cutting  them  off,  the  troops  ran  close  into  the 
tepee  of  the  head  chief,  and  were  fired  upon,  and  one  soldier  and  his 
horse  fell  dead.  This  was  the  signal  for  a  general  fight,  which  it  had 
hoped  might  be  avoided  by  cutting  off  these  mounts,  and  then  a  talk 
and  terms.  The  whole  command  was  ordered  to  advance  and  sup- 
port the  detachments,  that  were  now  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the 
Indians,  who  had  formed  in  line  just  above  the  camp.  Colonel 
Chivington  found  the  Indians  too  strong  for  his  command  to  drive, 
until  he  succeeded  in  getting  two  twelve-pound  brass  howitzers  to 
the  front.  The  first  shot  from  one  of  these  broke  the  Indian  lines, 
and  a  running  fight  ensued,  lasting  till  it  was  so  dark  that  an  Indian 
could  not  be  distinguished  from  a  white  man. 

"There  were  many  incidents  on  the  field  that  would  well  bear 
mention.  I  will  recite  one.  While  sitting  on  my  horse,  glass  in  hand, 
about  two  o'clock  P.M.,  I  saw  an  officer  fall  from  his  horse.  I  gal- 
loped up,  and  found  that  he  had  been  wounded  with  an  arrow,  and 
ordered  two  troopers  near  by  to  assist  and  protect  him  till  the  ambu- 
lance came  to  take  him  to  the  hospital  tent.  One  of  the  soldiers, 
speaking  excitedly,  said :  '  Look  out,  Colonel,  the  same  squaw  that 
shot  the  Major  will  shoot  you ! '  and  before  I  could  dismount,  and 
make  my  horse  a  breastwork,  an  arrow  came  whizzing  past,  and  cut 
the  rim  off  my  left  ear,  so  that  it  ble  1  freely.  At  this,  one  of  the 
soldiers  brought  his  carbine  to  an  aim,  saying  :  '  If  that  squaw  shows 
her  head  above  the  bank  again,  I  will  shoot  the  top  off  it.'  His  com- 
mander expostulated  with  him,  saying,  '  I  would  not  waste  my  pow- 
der by  killing  a  woman.'  At  this  instant  another  arrow  flew  through 
the  air,  and  pierced  the  arm  of  the  highly  civilized  soldier,  about  four 
inches  below  the  shoulder-joint.  I  had  all  my  life  some  doubts  about 
instantaneous  conversions,  but  here  it  was  as  clear  cut  as  was  ever 
witnessed  at  an  old-fashioned  Methodist  camp-meeting.  Before,  it 


244  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

was  the  officer  who  was  shot ;  now,  it  was  himself.  Before,  he  would 
not  shoot  a  woman  ;  now,  he  fairly  shrieked,  '  Shoot  the  dirty,  red 

b h  ! '  and  the  order  was  obeyed  ;  and  the  squaw  was  shot ;  and  I 

approved  it.  If  the  fools  in  the  East  and  elsewhere,  who  are  still 
shouting  themselves  hoarse,  could  only  have  turned  loose  upon  them 
for  a  little  time  a  band  of  hostile  Cheyennes,  and  I  could  witness  the 
scene,  I  would  be  more  than  compensated  for  all  the  mean  things 
they  have  said  and  are  saying  about  me  and  the  troops  under  my 
command  at  Sand  Creek. 

"The  number  of  Indians  killed,  as  near  as  I  could  estimate  from 
the  reports  of  company  and  battalion  commanders,  was  from  five 
hundred  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the 
latter  number  nearest  correct.  We  captured  a  large  number  of 
ponies,  mules,  and  horses.  From  these  I  allowed  the  men  of  the 
command,  whose  horses  had  died  or  given  out  on  the  march,  to 
choose  another,  and  ordered  the  remainder  of  them  to  be  turned 
over  to  Capt.  Dandow  Mullen,  Assistant  Quartermaster  of  volun- 
teers at  Denver,  which  was  done,  and  Captain  Mullen  sold  them  at 
public  auction  and  accounted  for  the  proceeds  in  his  returns  to  the 
Quartermaster's  department.  We  burned  the  tepees,  or  tents,  de- 
stroyed their  provisions,  turned  over  to  the  hospital  the  robes  and 
blankets  we  took  for  the  benefit  of  our  sick  and  wounded,  of  whom 
we  now  had  a  large  number. 

"  Was  Sand  Creek  a  massacre  ?  If  it  was,  we  had  massacres 
almost  without  number  during  the  late  rebellion.  That  there  may 
have  been  some  excesses  committed  on  the  field,  no  one  will  deny. 
Was  there  ever  a  battle  fought  in  which  no  excesses  were  committed  ? 
We  were  on  the  ground,  were  'wide  awake  and  duly  sober' ;  there  were 
not  ten  minutes  at  a  time  for  ten  hours  that  we  were  not  overlooking 
the  whole  scene  of  strife  ;  and  after  nineteen  years,  less  two  and  a 
half  months,  we  say  unhesitatingly  that  it  was  remarkably  free  from 
undue  atrocities.  I  saw  in  a  newspaper  within  a  month  that  Gen. 
S.  R.  Curtis,  commanding  the  department,  denied  all  responsibility 
for  the  whole  affair.  Here  is  his  last  word  by  telegraph  to  the  dis- 
trict commander :  '  Pursue  everywhere  and  punish  the  Cheyennes 
and  Arapahoes  ;  pay  no  attention  to  district  lines.  No  presents 
must  be  made  and  no  peace  concluded  without  my  order.'  It  has 
been  an  open  secret  to  the  writer  ever  since  the  battle  that  the  mis- 
representation of  this  whole  affair  from  the  beginning  was  a  combi- 
nation consisting  of  one  man  who  was  disappointed  of  promotion,  and 
some  others  who  were  aspirants  for  office  and  wanted  several  con- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  245 

nected  with  the  campaign  out  of  their  way.  I  heard  a  judge  of  com- 
mon pleas  in  Ohio,  a  Friend  Quaker,  and  colonel  of  an  Ohio  regi- 
ment during  the  Rebellion,  say  only  last  week,  when  this  subject  was 
on  the  tapis,  that  he  was  expecting  to  be  arrested  pretty  soon,  and 
when  asked  why,  he  said,  '  I  captured  three  Rebel  soldiers  who  had 
Fort  Pillow  blazoned  on  the  front  of  their  hats.  I  sent  them  to  the 
rear  under  guard  of  three  soldiers.  The  soldiers  returned  to  camp, 
and  I  asked  them  what  had  become  of  the  prisoners.  They  replied 
that  they  had  tried  to  escape  and  they  had  shot  them,  and  I  knew 
very  well  that  they  had  shot  them  because  of  their  boast  that  they 
had  participated  in  the  Fort  Pillow  affair,  and  did  not  arrest  them 
because  I  thought  they  did  about  half  right.'  Take  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  the  conduct  of  the  war  in  the  matter  of  General 
Sherman's  having  ten  thousand  men  slaughtered  by  the  rebels  only 
just  to  show  Pemberton,  or  some  other  rebel  commander,  that  he 
would  fight.  No  man  can  afford  to  be  tried  by  a  star-chamber  court. 

"  But  were  not  these  Indians  peaceable  ?  Oh,  yes ;  peaceable ! 
Well,  a  few  hundred  of  them  have  been  peaceable  for  almost  nineteen 
years,  and  none  of  them  have  been  so  troublesome  as  they  were 
before  Sand  Creek.  What  are  the  facts  ?  How  about  that  treaty 
that  Governor  John  Evans  did  not  make  with  them  in  the  summer 
of  1864?  He,  with  Major  Lowe,  Major  Whiteley,  two  of  his  Indian 
agents,  and  the  usual  corps  of  attaches  under  escort,  went  out  on  the 
Kiowa  to  treat.  When  he  got  there  they  had  gone  a  day's  march 
further  out  on  the  plains  and  would  meet  him  there,  and  so  on,  day 
after  day  they  moved  out  as  he  approached,  until,  wearied  out,  and 
suspicious  of  treachery,  he  returned  without  succeeding  in  his  mission 
of  peace.  He  told  them  by  message  that  he  had  presents  for  them  ; 
but  it  was  not  peace  and  presents  they  wanted,  but  war  and  plunder. 

"  What  of  the  peaceableness  of  their  attack  on  General  Blunt's 
advance  guard  north  of  Fort  Larned,  almost  annihilating  the  advance 
before  succor  could  reach  them  ?  What  of  the  dove-like  peace  of 
their  attack  on  the  government  train  on  Walnut  Creek,  east  of  Fort 
Larned,  under  the  guise  of  friendship,  till  the  drivers  and  attaches  of 
the  train  were  in  their  power,  and  by  a  signal  struck  down  at  once 
every  man,  only  a  boy  of  thirteen  years  barely  escaping,  and  he  with 
a  loss  of  his  scalp,  taken  to  his  ears,  and  he  finally  died  ? 

"That  was  a  very  friendly  act  these  Indians  did  when  they  run 
the  entire  herd  of  stock  at  Fort  Larned  one  Sunday  morning  after 
they  drew  their  rations  for  the  succeeding  week.  This  herd  con- 
sisted of  all  the  cavalry  and  artillery  horses,  all  the  quartermaster's 


246  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

animals,  and  all  the  beef  cattle  belonging  to  the  caravansary  depart- 
ments at  the  post.  What  of  the  trains  captured  from  Walnut  Creek 
to  Sand  Creek  on  the  Arkansas  route,  and  from  the  Little  Blue  to 
the  Kiowa  on  the  Platte  route  ?  Of  supplies  and  wagons  burned  and 
carried  off,  and  of  the  men  killed  ?  What  of  the  massacre  of  the 
Hunyan  family?  Alas!  what  of  the  stock,  articles  of  merchandise, 
fine  silk  dresses,  infants'  and  youths'  apparel,  the  embroidered  night- 
gowns and  chemises  ?  Aye,  what  of  the  scalps  of  white  men,  women, 
and  children,  several  of  which  they  had  not  had  time  to  dry  and  tan 
since  taken  ?  These,  all  these,  and  more,  were  taken  from  the  belts 
of  dead  warriors  on  the  battle-field  of  Sand  Creek,  and  from  their 
teepes  which  fell  into  our  hands  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1864.  What  of  that  Indian  blanket  that  was  captured,  fringed 
with  white  women's  scalps  ?  What  says  the  sleeping  dust  of  the  two 
hundred  and  eight  men,  women,  and  children,  ranchers,  emigrants, 
herders,  and  soldiers,  who  lost  their  lives  at  the  hands  of  these  In- 
dians ?  Peaceable !  Now  we  are  peaceably  disposed,  but  decline 
giving  such  testimonials  of  our  peaceful  proclivities  ;  and  I  say  here, 
as  I  said  in  my  own  town  in  the  Quaker  county  of  Clinton,  State  of 
Ohio,  in  a  speech  one  night  last  week,  —  I  stand  by  Sand  Creek." 

Colonel  Chivington  "  stands  by  Sand  Creek,"  and  we  stand  by 
him,  as  we  think  every  faithful  chronicler  of  history  must  do. 

The  hardships  and  sufferings  of  the  pioneers  in  those  days,  though 
less  than  thirty  years  ago,  may  be  learned  from  one  of  the  pioneer 
women,  —  Mrs.  Augusta  Tabor.  Miss  Hill  narrates  the  experience 
of  Mrs.  Tabor  as  follows,  as  she  heard  it  from  Mrs.  Tabor  herself :  — 

"  My  first  acquaintance  with  Horace  Austin  Warner  Tabor  came 
about  in  this  way :  my  father,  a  stone  contractor,  took  the  train  one 
morning  in  August,  1853,  for  Boston,  to  hire  stone-cutters.  When 
about  sixty  miles  from  home  two  young  men  entered  the  train,  one 
of  them  taking  a  seat  by  my  father.  In  conversation  it  was  devel- 
oped that  these  men  were  stone-cutters  and  looking  for  work.  My 
father  employed  them.  In  two  years  from  that  time  Mr.  Tabor,  who 
was  one  of  the  men,  asked  my  hand  in  marriage.  Another  two 
years  passed,  and  in  January,  1857,  we  were  married  in  the  room 
where  we  first  met. 

"  On  the  25th  of  February  we  left  my  home  in  Augusta,  Me.,  for 
our  new  one  in  Kansas.  We  made  our  way  to  St.  Louis,  which  was 
the  terminus  of  the  railroad,  thence  to  Kansas  City  on  a  five-day 
boat.  At  Kansas  City  we  purchased  a  yoke  of  oxen,  a  wagon,  a  few 
farming  tools,  some  seed,  took  my  trunks  and  started  westward.  My 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


247 


trip  was  not  very  pleasant,  for  the  wind  blew  disagreeably,  as  it  always 
does  in  Kansas. 

"We  arrived  at  our  destination  on  the  igth  of  April  at  11  A.M. 
I  shall  never  forget  that  morning.  To  add  to  the  desolation  of  the 
place,  the  wind  took  a  new  start.  The  cabin  stood  solitary  and  alone 
upon  an  open  prairie.  It  was  built  of  black  walnut  logs,  12x16  feet ; 
not  a  building,  a  stone,  or  stick  in  sight.  We  had  brought  two  men 
with  us,  and  how  we  could  all  live  in  that  little  place  was  a  question 
I  asked  myself  many  times.  The  only  furniture  was  a  No.  7  cook 
stove,  a  dilapidated  trunk,  and  a  rough  bedstead  made  of  poles,  on 
which  was  an  old  tick  filled  with  prairie  grass.  I  sat  down  upon  the 


MRS.    TABOR'S    CABIN. 

trunk  and  cried  ;  I  had  not  been  deceived  in  coming  to  this  place. 
I  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  country  was  new,  that  there  were  no 
saw-mills  near,  and  no  money  in  the  territory.  But  I  was  homesick, 
and  could  not  conceal  it  from  those  about  me. 

"  Mr.  Tabor  and  the  two  men  unloaded  the  wagon  while  I  tried  to 
clean  up  the  cabin.  I  found  a  number  of  old  New  York  Tribunes  in 
the  room,  smoothed  them  out,  made  a  paste  of  flour,  and  soon  had 
the  black,  ugly  logs  covered,  putting  the  newspapers  right  side  up, 
that  I  might  read  them  at  my  leisure,  for  I  could  see  that  reading 
matter  was  likely  to  be  very  scarce.  Having  covered  the  walls,  I 
unpacked  the  boxes  and  made  up  a  decent  bed.  I  took  out  my  table- 
linen  and  silver,  for  I  had  not  left  home  without  the  usual  outfit,  and 


248  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

then  began  to  prepare  my  first  meal.  I  cannot  say  that  it  was  very 
inviting,  but  I  did  the  best  I  could,  and  we  were  all  blessed  with  good 
appetites.  The  two  men  took  rooms  near  by  and  boarded  with  us, 
thus  helping  us  to  money  to  support  the  table.  Mr.  Tabor  broke  the 
land,  put  in  the  seed,  and  began  farming  in  good  earnest,  exchanging 
day's  labor  with  the  neighbors  to  save  hiring  help.  In  this  way  our 
pioneer  farm  was  started. 

"  No  rain  fell  that  summer,  so  that  when  harvest  came  we  had 
nothing  to  gather.  Mr.  Tabor  went  to  Fort  Riley  and  worked  at  his 
trade,  while  I  remained  at  home  with  my  babe,  and  made  a  little  money 
by  raising  chickens. 

"  Indians  and  snakes  were  then  numerous  in  Kansas,  and  I  lived 
in  constant  dread  of  both.  I  cannot  tell  which  I  feared  the  most. 
The  rattlesnakes  crawled  into  my  cabin  to  get  into  the  shade,  and 
when  I  sat  down  it  would  be  upon  a  three-legged  stool  with  my  feet 
under  me. 

"The  winter  was  warm  and  pleasant.  When  spring  came  we 
tried  farming  once  more.  An  abundant  crop  resulted,  but  there  was 
no  market  for  it ;  eggs  were  three  cents  per  dozen,  and  shelled  corn 
twenty  cents  per  bushel.  I  kept  boarders  and  made  some  butter  to 
sell.  In  February,  1859,  Mr.  Tabor  heard  of  Pike's  Peak,  through 
some  one  of  Green  Russell's  party  who  was  returning,  and  at  once 
decided  to  try  his  luck  in  the  new  Eldorado.  I  had  my  choice  to 
return  to  my  parents  in  Maine  or  remain  with  my  husband  and  cast  in 
my  lot  with  him.  After  canvassing  the  subject  with  much  reflection, 
it  was  settled  that  I  should  remain,  as  the  more  practicable  course  to 
be  pursued.  The  two  men  decided  to  go  along  with  us.  Mr.  Tabor 
worked  at  the  Fort  through  March  and  April. 

"  The  fifth  day  of  April  we  gathered  together  our  scanty  means, 
bought  supplies  for  a  few  months,  yoked  our  oxen  and  cows,  mounted 
our  seats  in  the  wagon,  and  left  the  town  of  Zeandale  with  the  deter- 
mination of  returning  in  the  fall,  or  as  soon  as  we  had  made  money 
enough  to  pay  for  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  government 
land,  and  buy  a  little  stock. 

"What  I  endured  on  this. journey  only  the  women  who  crossed 
the  plains  in  1859  can  Veal ize.  There  was  no  station  until  we  arrived 
within  eighty  miles  of  Denver,  via  the  Republican  route';  no  road 
and  a  good  part  of  the  way  no  fuel. 

"We  were  obliged  to  gather  buffalo  chips,  sometimes  travelling 
miles  to  find  enough  to  cook  a  meal  with.  This  weary  work  fell  to 
the  women,  for  the  men  had  enough  to  do  in  taking  care  of  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  249 

teams,  and  in  'making'  and  'breaking'  the  camp.  The  Indians 
followed  us  all  the  time,  and  were  continually  begging  and  stealing. 

"  Every  Sunday  we  rested,  if  rest  it  could  be  called.  The  men 
went  hunting,  while  I  stayed  to  guard  the  camp,  wash  the  soiled 
linen,  and  cook  for  the  following  week.  Quite  frequently  the  Indians 
gathered  around  my  camp,  so  that  I  could  do  nothing  all  day.  They 
wallowed  in  the  water-sources  from  which  our  supplies  were  obtained, 
and  were  generally  very  filthy.  My  babe  was  teething  and  suffering 
from  fever  and  ague,  so  that  he  required  constant  attention  day  and 
night.  I  was  weak  and  feeble,  having  suffered  all  the  time  that  I 
lived  in  Kansas  with  ague.  My  weight  was  only  ninety  pounds. 

"We  arrived  in  Denver  about  the  middle  of  June,  and  as  our 
cattle  were  footsore  we  were  obliged  to  camp  there  until  the  first  day 
of  July.  Then  we  went  up  Clear  Creek  where  the  town  of  Golden 
was  being  established.  A  miner  came  down  from  the  mountains, 
from  whom  we  inquired  the  way  to  Gregory  diggings.  With  the 
information  derived  from  him,  Mr.  Tabor  concluded  to  go  on  a 
prospecting  tour.  So,  on  the  morning  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  the 
men  took  a  supply  of  provisions  on  their  backs,  with  a  few 
blankets,  and,  leaving  one  of  the  party  to  keep  me  company, 
pushed  forward  into  the  mountains,  hopeful  of  success.  They  were 
absent  three  weeks,  and  to  me  they  were  three  very  lonely,  weari- 
some weeks,  although  wagons  were  camped  around  and  Golden 
City  was  a  half-mile  away.  A  vast  wilderness,  whose  silence  was 
broken  only  by  the  lowing  of  cattle,  stretched  out  on  every  side. 
Even  to  a  pioneer  woman,  on  whom  the  necessity  of  such  experi- 
ence was  laid,  the  situation  was  one  of  indescribable  isolation.  On 
the  26th  of  July  we  again  loaded  the  wagon  and  started  into  the 
mountains.  The  road  was  a  mere  trail ;  every  few  rods  we  were 
obliged  to  stop  and  widen  it.  Many  times  we  unloaded  the  wagon, 
and,  by  pushing  it,  helped  the  cattle  up  the  hills.  Going  down  hill 
was  so  much  easier,  that  it  was  often  necessary  to  fasten  a  full-grown 
pine  tree  to  the  back  of  the  wagon  for  a  hold-back  or  brake.  Often 
night  overtook  us  where  it  was  impossible  to  find  a  level  place  to 
spread  a  blanket.  Under  such  circumstances  we  drove  stakes  in  the 
ground,  rolled  a  log  against  them,  and  lay  with  our  feet  against  the 
log.  Sometimes  the  hill  was  so  steep  that  we  slept  almost  upright. 
We  were  nearly  three  weeks  cutting  our  way  through  Russell's  Gulch 
into  Payne's  Bar,  now  called  Idaho  Springs. 

"  Ours  was  the  first  wagon  through,  and  I  was  the  first  white 
woman  there,  if  white  I  could  be  called,  after  camping  out  three 


250  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

months.  The  men  cut  logs  and  laid  them  up  four  feet  high,  then 
put  the  7x9  tent  on  for  a  roof.  Mr.  Tabor  went  prospecting. 
I  opened  a  'bakery,'  made  bread  and  pies  to  sell,  gave  meals,  and 
sold  milk  from  the  cows  we  had  brought. 

"  Here  one  of  our  party,  Mr.  Maxey,  had  an  attack  of  mountain 
fever,  and  for  four  weeks  he  lay  very  ill  at  the  door  of  our  tent,  in  a 
wagon  bed,  I  acting  as  physician  and  nurse.  A  miner  with  a  gun- 
shot wound  through  his  hand  was  also  brought  to  my  door  for  atten- 
tion. 

"  With  the  first  snow-storm  came  an  old  miner  to  our  camp,  who 
told  us  dreadful  stories  of  snow-slides,  and  advised  Mr.  Tabor  to  take 
me  out  of  the  mountains  immediately.  Those  who  know  anything  of 
the  surroundings  of  Idaho  will  smile  at  the  idea  of  a  snow-slide  there. 
But  we,  in  our  ignorance  of  mountains,  believed  all  the  old  miner 
said,  and  left  for  Denver. 

"  I  had  been  very  successful  with  my  bakery  in  that  camp,  making 
enough -to  pay  for  the  farm  in  Kansas  and  to  keep  us  through  the 
winter. 

"  Arriving  in  Denver,  we  rented  a  room  over  a  store.  It  was  the 
first  roof  I  had  slept  under  for  six  months.  I  took  a  few  boarders, 
and  Mr.  Tabor  returned  to  his  prospect,  which  he  found  had  been 
jumped  by  the  miner  who  had  advised  us  to  leave.  '  Might  was 
right '  in  those  days,  so  he  lost  all  his  summer's  work,  and  had  to 
sell  the  cow  to  buy  the  supply  for  the  new  camp,  which  was  up  the 
head-waters  of  the  Arkansas. 

"The  iQth  of  February,  1860,  I  was  lifted  from  a  bed  of  sickness 
to  a  wagon,  and  we  started  for  the  new  mining  excitement.  No  woman 
had  yet  been  there. 

"  We  were  seven  days  going  to  where  Manitou  now  stands.  I  made 
biscuit  with  the  water  of  the  soda  springs  ;  they  were  yellow,  and 
tasted  so  strongly  of  soda  that  even  we,  with  our  out-door  appetites, 
could  not  relish  them. 

"  We  lingered  there  one  week,  the  men  doing  a  little  prospecting, 
and  working  on  a  new  road  over  the  Ute  Pass. 

"We  made  such  slow  progress  over  this  road  that  every  evening 
we  could  look  back  and  see  the  smoke  from  the  camp-fire  of  the  pre- 
vious evening.  After  two  weeks  of  such  wearying  travel,  we  reached 
South  Park.  I  shall  never  forget  my  first  vision  of  the  park.  The 
sun  was  just  setting.  I  can  only  describe  it  by  saying  it  was  one  of 
Colorado's  sunsets.  Those  who  have  seen  them  know  how  glorious 
they  are.  Those  who  have  not  cannot  imagine  anything  so  gor- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  2$  I 

geously  beautiful.  The  park  looked  like  a  cultivated  field,  with 
rivulets  coursing  through,  and  herds  of  antelope  in  the  distance. 
We  camped  on  the  bank  of  a  clear  stream,  and  the  men  went  fish- 
ing. We  had  broiled  trout  that  night  for  supper,  and  passed  the 
evening  over  a  game  of  whist  by  the  light  of  our  camp-fire. 

"The  fourth  day  in  the  park  we  came  late  at  night  to  Salt  Creek. 
Tried  the  water  and  found  that  we  could  not  let  the  cattle  drink  it ; 
neither  could  we  drink  it.  We  tied  the  oxen  to  the  wagon  and  went 
supperless  to  bed.  The  night  was  very  cold,  and  a  jack  came  to  our 
tent  and  stood  in  the  hot  embers  until  he  burned  his  fetlocks  off. 
He  stayed  with  us  to  the  end  of  our  trip,  and  carried  me  many  miles 
upon  his  back. 

"We  moved  on  the  next  day  to  fresh  water,  and  camped  on  Trout 
Creek.  Knowing  that  a  party  of  men  had  left  Denver  a  few  days 
before  we  did,  and  feeling  anxious  to  come  up  with  them,  the  men 
shouldered  their  rifles  and  started  out  in  search  of  footprints,  each 
going  in  a  different  direction.  The  one  who  came  upon  the  trail  was 
to  fire  off  his  gun  as  a  signal  to  the  others.  All  day  long  I  listened 
for  the  report  of  a  gun.  The  men  had  not  arrived  when  night's 
shadows  gathered  around,  and  I  felt  desolate  indeed.  The  little  jack 
came  into  the  tent,  and  I  bowed  my  head  upon  him  and  wept  in  lone- 
liness of  soul. 

"  The  men  had  gone  farther  than  they  expected,  and  were  some- 
what bewildered,  and  only  for  the  camp-fire  that  I  kept  blazing,  they 
could  not  have  found  their  way  back. 

"  As  they  did  not  find  the  trail,  we  concluded  to  follow  the  way  a 
stick  might  fall.  It  fell  pointing  southwest,  and  we  went  in  that 
direction. 

"  Finding  what  we  thought  a  good  fording  place  in  the  Arkansas 
River,  we  decided  to  cross,  as  the  road  seemed  better  on  the  other  side. 

"The  river  was  very  rapid  and  full  of  bowlders,  around  which 
clung  cakes  of  ice.  Our  cattle,  thin,  weak,  and  tired,  were  numb 
with  cold,  and  halted  in  the  middle  of  the  river.  The  men  plunged 
into  the  cold  stream,  which  was  waist  deep,  tied  ropes  to  their  horns, 
went  upon  the  opposite  shore,  and  endeavored  to  drag  them  over,  but 
with  no  success.  They  then  unloaded  the  wagon,  putting  the  goods 
upon  the  ice,  which  was  liable  to  break  off  and  float  away,  unyoked 
the  oxen,  dragged  the  wagon  over,  and  carried  the  goods  on  their 
shoulders.  The  faithful  little  jack  swam  the  river  with  me  on  its 
back.  Upon  consulting  our  watch  we  found  that  we  had  been  six 
hours  crossing  the  Arkansas. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  We  made  a  fire,  dried  our  clothing  on  us,  and  nursed  the  cattle 
all  night,  feeling  that  we  must  save  them,  for  our  provision  was  get- 
ting low,  and  unless  game  came  in  from  the  valley,  we  should  be 
obliged  to  eat  them. 

"  After  camping  in  this  place  a  week,  we  moved  further  up  the 
river,  where  we  went  to  work  in  earnest.  Mr.  Tabor  and  Mr.  Maxey 
whip-sawed  some  lumber  and  made  sluice-boxes,  sawed  riffles  from  a 
log,  put  in  a  ditch  from  the  creek,  and  commenced  washing  the  bank 
away.  Cleaning  the  boxes  up  at  night,  we  found  fine  gold  in  an 
abundance  of  black  sand.  I  worked  hard  every  day,  trying  to  sepa- 
rate the  gold  from  the  iron  sand,  and  at  night  would  have  only  a  few 
pennyweights  of  the  precious  metal.  For  four  weeks  we  worked 
there ;  our  supplies  were  about  gone,  and  we  felt  discouraged.  It 
had  been  one  long  year  since  we  heard  from  the  loved  ones  at  home. 

"  One  morning  a  man  came  to  the  camp,  and  said  he  was  one  of 
the  party  that  left  Denver  a  few  days  in  advance  of  us,  and  they  had 
found  gold  in  paying  quantities.  He  gave  us  explicit  directions  how 
to  reach  the  rich  diggings.  We  followed  his  directions,  and  under- 
took to  cross  the  river  where  it  looked  shallow.  When  near  the 
opposite  bank  we  came  into  a  deep  channel.  Our  wagon  bed,  with 
myself  and  child  in  it,  raised  above  the  wheels  and  floated  down  the 
stream.  It  was  rapidly  filling  with  water,  when  it  occurred  to  me 
to  cling  to  the  willows  on  the  bank.  I  did  so,  and  held  with  unnatural 
strength  until  the  men  came  to  my  rescue.  We  reached  California 
Gulch  three  months  after  we  left  Denver.  The  first  thing  after 
camping  was  to  have  the  faithful  old  oxen  butchered  that  had  brought 
us  all  the  way  from  Kansas, — yes,  from  the  Missouri  River,  three 
years  before.  We  divided  the  beef  with  the  miners,  for  they  were 
without  provisions  or  ammunition. 

"  Before  night  they  built  me  a  cabin  of  green  pine  logs,  without 
floor,  door,  or  window.  The  roof  was  covered  with  poles,  bark,  and 
dirt,  and  the  wagon  was  converted  into  table,  side-board,  and  three- 
legged  stools.  I  entered  this  place  happy  that  I  once  more  had  a 
roof  to  cover  my  head,  and  at  once  commenced  taking  boarders,  with 
nothing  to  feed  them  except  poor  beef  and  dried  apples. 

"  It  was  soon  noised  about  that  gold  was  struck  in  California 
Gulch,  and  before  many  weeks  there  were  ten  thousand  people  there. 
A  mail  and  express  was  immediately  decided  upon,  and  I  was 
appointed  postmistress. 

"With  my  many  duties  the  days  passed  quickly.  I  was  called 
upon  to  weigh  all  the  gold  taken  from  the  upper  part  of  the  gulch, 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  253 

as  we  were  the  only  owners  in  that  section  of  a  pair  of  gold-scales. 
The  miners  would  clean  up  their  boxes,  get  their  gold  weighed,  and 
go  to  town  (where  Leadville  now  stands),  spree  all  night,  and  return 
1  dead  broke '  in  the  morning  to  commence  again. 

"Mr.  Tabor  was  then  working  our  mine,  which  was  No.  12  above 
discovery.  We  took  that  because  it  had  a  fall ;  but  it  was  a  mistake, 
for  the  gold  was  nearly  all  washed  over  the  fall  into  the  claim  below, 
from  which  eighty  thousand  dollars  was  taken  out  during  the  summer 
of  1860. 

"  I  was  very  happy  that  summer,  and  joyfully  anticipated  a  visit 
to  my  mother  and  father  in  the  fall. 

"  On  the  2Oth  of  September  Mr.  Tabor  gave  me  one  thousand 
dollars  in  dust.  I  put  my  wardrobe  —  what  there  was  of  it  —  in  a  car- 
pet-bag, and  took  passage  with  a  mule  train  that  was  going  to  the  Mis- 
souri River.  I  was  five  weeks  crossing,  and  cooked  for  my  board. 

"With  that  thousand  dollars  I  purchased  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  in  Kansas,  adjoining  the  tract  we  already  owned.  My 
folks  dressed  me  up,  and  in  the  spring  I  bought  a  pair  of  mules  and 
a  wagon  in  St.  Joe  to  return  with,  which  took  about  all  my  money. 

"Mr.  Tabor  gave  me  one-fifth  of  what  was  made  that  summer, 
when  I  left ;  the  other  four  thousand  he  sent  to  Iowa  and  bought 
flour,  and  in  the  spring  we  opened  a  store  in  my  cabin.  He  worked 
in  the  mine  during  the  day,  while  I  attended  to  the  store.  Those 
were  days  and  years  of  self-sacrifice,  hard  labor,  and  rigid  economy, 
when  the  foundation  of  Mr.  Tabor's  immense  wealth  was  laid.  A 
little  less  courage,  fortitude,  and  perseverance  would  have  turned 
us  back,  and  the  golden  opportunity  to  amass  a  fortune  been  lost 
forever." 

These  hardships  and  perils  are  found  no  more  in  the  New  West. 
Where  Mrs.  Tabor  drank  deepest  of  the  cup  of  bitterness,  there  are 
now  thrifty  and  wealthy  cities,  with  all  the  modern  attractions  of 
schools,  churches,  art,  and  adornment.  Over  the  "Great  Plains," 
where  so  many  became  the  victims  of  starvation  and  the  tomahawk, 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the  tourist  rides  in  luxurious  palace  cars, 
with  none  to  molest  or  make  afraid. 

Even  now  many  of  the  New  England  people  think  of  the  New 
West  as  the  place  where  "dug-outs,"  Indians,  and  buffalo  predominate. 
But  these  are  things  of  the  past.  We  do  not  affirm  that  so-called 
"dug-outs"  cannot  be  found  anywhere  in  the  New  West;  for  that 
would  not  be  true.  But  we  affirm  that  where  they  were  common 
twenty-five  and  thirty  years  ago,  they  exist  now  only  in  ruins.  Buf- 


254 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


falo  are  unknown  to-day  in  the  larger  part  of  the  New  West.  They 
have  become  almost  extinct.  And  while  Indians  make  occasional 
raids  upon  ranches  and  white  settlements,  in  some  parts  of  the  West, 
that  portion  of  the  New  West  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  is  not 
troubled  by  their  presence.  A  New  England  lady  went  to  Colorado 
to  reside  in  1877.  At  the  end  of  four  years  she  returned,  on  a  visit, 
with  her  husband,  and  one  day  they  were  in  the  city  of  Boston, 
where  they  met  on  the  street  several  Western  Indians,  whom  a  show- 
man was  exhibiting  there.  Turning  to  her  husband,  the  lady  re- 


CROSSING  THE  PLAINS    NOW. 

marked,  "  Those  are  the  first  Indians  I  have  seen  since  I  left  Massa- 
chusetts four  years  ago." 

Fremont  describes  a  herd  of  buffalo  which  he  saw  during  one  of 
his  exploring  expeditions,  so  large  as  to  cover  the  country  as  far  as 
he  could  see.  By  count  he  estimated  that  there  were  eleven  thousand 
of  them  within  a  certain  compass  his  eye  took  in  ;  and  this  was  only 
a  part  of  the  herd. 

When  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  first  went  into  operation,  a  train 
of  cars  was  stopped  quite  a  while  by  a  herd  of  buffalo  crossing  the 
track.  Colonel  Dodge,  in  his  "  Plains  of  the  Great  West,"  speaks  as 
follows  of  the  buffalo  :  — 

"  Forty  years  ago  the  buffalo  ranged  from  the  plains  of  Texas  to 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


255 


beyond  the  British  line  ;  from  the  Missouri  and  upper  Mississippi  to 
the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

"In  1872,  some  enemy  of  the  buffalo  discovered  that  their  hides 
could  be  sold  in  the  market  for  a  goodly  sum.  By  wagon,  on  horse- 
back, and  afoot,  the  pelt  hunters  poured  in,  and  soon  the  unfortunate 
buffalo  was  without  a  moment's  peace  or  rest.  Though  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  skins  were  sent  to  market,  they  scarcely  indicated  the 
slaughter.  From  want  of  skill  in  shooting,  and  want  of  knowledge 
in  preserving  the  hides  of  those  slain,  on  the '.part  of  these  green 


HERD  OF  BUFFALO    STOPPING  THE  TRAIN. 


hunters,  one  hide  sent  to  market  represented  three,  four,  or  even  five 
dead  buffalo.  The  hunter's  object  is  not  only  to  kill,  but  to  avoid 
frightening  the  living.  Keeping  the  wind,  peeping  over  hills,  crawl- 
ing like  a  snake  along  the  bottom  of  a  ravine,  he  may  approach  un- 
suspected to  within  thirty  or  forty  feet  of  the  nearest.  The  game  is 
so  near  that  but  one  shot  is  necessary  for  each  life.  Hiding  his  every 
movement,  the  heavy  rifle  is  brought  to  bear,  and  a  bullet  is  sent  into 
the  heart  of  the  nearest  buffalo.  The  animal  plunges  forward,  walks 
a  few  steps,  and  stops,  with  blood  streaming  from  his  nostrils.  The 
other  buffalo,  startled  at  the  report,  rush  together,  but,  neither  see- 


256  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

ing  nor  smelling  danger,  stare  in  uneasy  wonder.  Attracted  by  the 
blood,  they  collect  about  the  wounded  buffalo.  Again  and  again  the 
rifle  cracks.  Buffalo  after  buffalo  bleeds,  totters,  and  falls.  The  sur- 
vivors stare  in  imbecile  amazement. 

"  I  have  myself  counted  one  hundred  and  twelve  carcasses  inside 
of  a  semi-circle  of  two  hundred  yards  radius,  all  of  which  were  killed 
by  one  man  from  the  same  spot,  and  in  less  than  three-quarters  of  an 
hour.  The  buffalo  melted  away  like  snow  before  a  summer's  sun. 
Congress  talked  of  interfering,  but  only  talked.  Winter  and  sum- 
mer, in  season  and  out  of  season,  the  slaughter  went  on.  In  1871- 
72,  there  was  apparently  no  limit  to  the  number  of  buffalo. 

"As  the  game  became  scarcer,  more  attention  was  paid  to  all 
details,  and  in  1874,  one  hundred  skins,  delivered  in  the  market, 
represented  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dead  buffalo. 

"  To  avoid  overestimating,  I  have,  in  every  case,  taken  the  lowest 
figures,  and  the  result  is  as  follows  :  — 

Killed  by  the  Indians  in  the  years  1872,  1873,  and  1874 1,215,00x3 

Killed  by  the  Whites  in  the  years  1872,  1873,  and  1874 3,i$8,73° 

Total 4,373,73° 

Making  the  enormous,  almost  incredible  number,  of  nearly  four  and 
a  half  millions  of  buffalo  killed  in  the  short  space  of  three  years. 
Nor  is  this  all.  No  account  has  been  taken  of  the  immense  number 
of  buffalo  killed  by  hunters  who  come  into  the  range  from  New  Mex- 
ico, Colorado,  Texas,  and  the  Indian  Territory ;  of  the  numbers 
killed  by  the  Utes,  Bannocks,  and  other  mountain  tribes,  in  their  fall 
hunt  on  the  plains.  Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  numbers  sent  from 
the  Indian  Territory,  by  other  railroads  than  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
&  Santa  F£,  to  St.  Louis,  Memphis,  and  elsewhere ;  of  the  immense 
number  of  robes  which  go  to  California,  Montana,  Idaho,  and  the 
Great  West ;  nor  of  the  still  greater  numbers  taken  each  year  from 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company. 
All  of  these  will  add  another  million  to  the  already  almost  incredible 
mortuary  list  of  the  nearly  extinct  buffalo." 

On  a  former  page  we  spoke  of  a  stage  line  opened  from  Leaven- 
worth,  Kansas,  to  Pike's  Peak,  in  May,  1859.  In  1864  the  Indians 
committed  such  depredations  that  the  stage  line  was  discontinued. 
Not  only  were  wagon  trains  attacked  by  the  savages,  but  stages  were 
attacked  also.  Many  wagon  trains,  containing  supplies  and  machinery 
for  traders  and  settlers,  were  captured  and  burned  on  the  plains.  Farm- 
houses and  stage  stations  shared  the  same  fate.  Some  stages  were 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


257 


captured  and  passengers  massacred.  Colonel  Chivington's  statement, 
already  quoted,  did  not  exaggerate  the  facts. 

And  this  was  little  more  than  twenty  years  ago ! 

Even  as  recent  as  1879,  tne  author  of  "Camps  in  the  Rockies" 
recorded  an  incident  that  shows  how  generally  the  perils  from  Indians 
pervaded  the  Rocky  Mountain  region.  He  says  :  "  I  visited  the  spot 
on  two  different  occasions.  The  first  time  (in  1879)  I  reached  the 


STAGE  ATTACKED  BY  INDIANS. 


few  scattered  log-cabins,  nestling  under  the  beetling  brows  of  a  gorge, 
intersecting  a  vast  upland  plateau  some  six  thousand  or  seven  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea  ;  the  inhabitants  were  in  the  throes  of  an  Indian 
scare  ;  the  Utes  had  '  broken  out '  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south, 
had  massacred  a  lot  of  troops  that  had  been  sent  to  subdue  them,  and 
were  now  supposed  to  be  on  the  war-path  northwards,  ready  to  do  as 
a  kindred  tribe  had  done  a  year  or  two  before  ;  i.e.,  to  sweep  the  whole 
country  and  butcher  the  solitary  white  settlers.  I  happened  to  strike 


258  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  settlement  a  day  or  two  after  the  first  rumor  of  the  Ute  outbreak 
had  reached  it.  Riding  a  few  miles  ahead  of  our  men,  who  followed 
with  the  pack  animals,  I  reached  the  cabin  some  hours  before  them. 
The  men  of  the  settlement  were  all  away  attending  to  a  distant  cattle- 
drive  ;  they  "had  left  before  the  first  alarm,  and  were  not  expected 
back  for  some  days  yet.  The  women  —  there  were  some  eight  or 
nine  families  —  had,  on  receipt  of  the  first  warning,  held  a  council  of 
war,  in  which  it  was  decided  to  retire  to  a  small  underground  '  fort ' 
—  cellar  would  describe  it  better  —  connected  by  a  subterranean 
passage  with  the  largest  log-cabin  of  the  settlement.  It  was  hastily 
provisioned  ;  a  woman  who  was  in  childbed  brought  hither,  and  every- 
body ready  to  repair  to  this  last  refuge  at  the  first  approach  of  the 
dreaded  foe.  My  looks,  as  I  rode  -up  to  the  first  shanty,  I  suppose, 
were  not  very  reassuring.  Long  absence  in  the  wilds  of  the  moun- 
tains had  reduced  my  dress  to  the  last  extremity.  The  skin  and  veni- 
son of  a  bighorn  I  had  killed  that  morning  were  slung  over  my  saddle, 
and  festooned  old  Boreas's  flanks,  while  my  hands  were  still  red  with 
the  blood  of  my  game,  as  I  had  passed  no  water  since  my  morning's 
kill.  Altogether  I  must  have  looked,  astride  of  my  pony,  who  was 
likewise  bespattered  by  blood,  a  somewhat  uncanny  character.  Not 
having  seen  a  white  man  for  some  time  past,  I  was  unaware  of  the 
Indian  news,  and  hence  was  quite  unprepared  for  the  shout,  '  Halt ! ' 
that  stopped  me  a  few  yards  from  a  fence  surrounding  the  first  log- 
cabin.  On  looking  at  the  place  from  whence  issued  the  voice,  I 
espied  a  huge  needle-rifle  resting  on  the  top  bar  of  the  fence.  Its 
business  end  was  pointed  at  me  with  unpleasant  steadiness,  while  at 
the  butt  end  I  descried  a  diminutive  bit  of  humanity  in  the  shape  of 
a  boy  of  eleven  or  twelve. 

"  '  Say,  stranger,  what  the are  you,  anyhow  ?     Be  you  a 

tarnal  red-skin  half-breed,  or  a  white  man  ? '  demanded  the  miniature 
sentry,  who,  on  the  lookout  for  Indians,  wanted  to  make  sure  ere  he 
let  me  pass.  My  laughing  answer  was  followed  by  his  letting  down 
the  hammer  of  his  rifle,  and  standing  up  under  the  shadow  of  his  huge 
old  arm,  at  least  a  foot  and  a  half  taller  than  himself,  disclosing  to 
me  a  bright-eyed  youngster  of  frontier  breed. 

" '  I  am  the  boss  of  this  yer  camp/  he  replied  to  my  query,  and 
taking  from  his  trouser-pocket  a  roll  of  plug,  he  made  a  formidable 
bite  at  it.  I  had  arranged  to  wait  for  my  men  at  the  settlement,  so 
dismounting  and  tying  up  my  horse,  I  followed  his  indication  to  go 
into  the  house,  'where  mam  oughter  (ought  to  be)  cooking  dinner.' 

"  This  latter  personage,  busy  with  her  stove,   seemed  somewhat 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  259 

taken  aback  when  I  stalked  into  the  cabin.  However,  she  seemed 
prepared  for  squalls  ;  a  well-filled  cartridge-belt  girthed  her  waist,  a 
long  six-shooter  in  its  sheath  being  attached  to  it,  while  a  Winchester 
rifle  was  leaning  against  the  stove  ready  for  immediate  action.  In 
ten  minutes  the  loquacious  Western  lady  had  informed  me  of  the 
state  of  things,  —  had  told  me  in  what  a  perpetual  state  of  fright  they 
had  been  the  last  two  days  ;  how  every  soul  in  the  settlement  retired 
every  evening  to  their  underground  '  fort '  ;  and  how  they  longed  to 
have  their  husbands  and  sons  back  again.  She  seemed  delighted  to 
hear  that  my  party  would  presently  follow,  and  that  we  had  seen  no 
signs  of  hostile  Indians  further  north.  After  partaking  of  dinner, 
and  the  boy-sentry  being  relieved  by  a  neighbor's  daughter,  I  made 
the  round  of  the  cottages  under  the  guidance  of  the  boy-sentry,  who 
turned  out  to  be  a  very  wide-awake  little  chap,  a  genuine  Western- 
raised  child,  more  of  a  man  than  many  a  swaggering  lout  double  his 
age  further  east,  his  astonishing  flow  of  bad  language  and  the  con- 
stant application  to  his  plug  being  the  only  drawbacks  to  a  more 
intimate  acquaintance  with  him. 

"  I  visited  the  cellar  '  fort,'  and  comforted  the  sick  woman  with  the 
news  of  the  reinforcements  the  settlement  had  received.  Some  twelve 
feet  square,  with  loop-holes  where  the  walls,  only  seven  feet  high, 
joined  the  earthwork  roof,  it  seemed  a  safe  enough  place,  however 
insufficient  in  its  dimensions,  to  hold  twelve  or  fifteen  human  beings. 
The  narrow  passage,  sloping  upwards,  some  four  or  five  yards  long 
and  only  four  feet  high,  connecting  this  cellar-like  excavation  with 
the  body  of  the  log  shanty,  was  so  arranged  that  it  could  be  filled  up 
with  earth  at  a  moment's  notice,  while  the  heavy  pile  of  earth  that 
covered  the  rafter  roof,  raising  it  slightly  over  the  ground,  made  it 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  Indians  to  fire  the  structure. 

"  My  men  arriving  in  due  time,  we  pitched  camp  close  to  it,  and 
remained  there  for  two  days,  giving  our  worn-out  cattle  a  very  neces- 
sary rest.  A  part  of  the  male  contingent  of  the  settlement  returned 
before  we  left,  and,  as  was  not  unnatural,  felt  very  grateful  to  us  for 
our  presence." 

Such  an  occurrence  now  is  as  improbable  in  Colorado  as  it  is  in 
Massachusetts.  This  fact  alone  shows  the  marvel  of  growth  and 
improvement  better  than  description. 

The  marvellous  enterprise  and  growth  of  the  New  West  is  strik- 
ingly illustrated  by  the  methods  adopted  to  carry  the  mails.  Gold 
was  discovered  in  California  in  1848,  and  in  less  than  three  years 
from  that  time  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  in 


260  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

San  Francisco.  They  represented  nearly  the  whole  world  ;  for  they 
came  from  every  quarter  of  the  habitable  globe,  leaving  loved  ones 
behind. 

To  meet  the  necessities  of  so  large  a  population,  the  mails  became 
ponderous.  They  were  conveyed  by  water  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco,  each  passage  consuming  from  three  to  four  weeks.  Such 
delay  was  very  trying  to  the  feelings  of  those  who  were  anxious  to 
hear  from  friends  at  home,  and  extremely  embarrassing  to  business 


.     SNOW  SKATES. 

men.     Yet,  for  ten  years,  all  were  forced  to  adapt  themselves  to  these 
unfavorable  circumstances. 

The  settlers  in  the  rich  valleys  at  the  eastern  base  of  the  high 
Sierras  of  California  were  even  worse  off.  Four  or  five  months  in 
the  year  no  mails  could  reach  them,  on  account  of  the  depth  of  the 
snow.  Fearless  men  attempted  to  scale  the  snow-crowned  summits, 
again  and  again,  to  carry  the  mails  to  these  inland-bound  people,  but 
as  often  sacrificed  life  to  their  temerity.  It  was  trying  enough  to 
cross  those  mountains  in  summer  time ;  but,  in  the  winter,  when 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  26 1 

snow-storms  raged  almost  daily,  and  the  snow  was  often  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  feet  deep,  it  was  extremely  perilous  to  make  the  attempt. 

A  Norwegian,  however,  by  the  name  of  John  A.  Thompson,  pro- 
posed to  carry  the  mail  to  these  people  through  the  winter,  on  snow- 
skates.  His  proposition  was  received  with  much  incredulity  at  first, 
but  he  soon  proved  that  he  was  in  earnest  and  meant  business.  He 
had  been  trained  from  boyhood,  in  his  native  land,  to  the  use  of 
snow-skates. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  stiow-s&ate  is  entirely  different 
from  the  snow-s/i0e.  The  former  is  designed  for  skating  upon  hard 
snow,  by  which  mode  of  travel,  an  expert,  like  Thompson,  may  ac- 
quire a  speed  not  inferior  to  that  in  the  skating-rink  or  on  a  lake 
of  ice.  The  latter  (the  snow-shoe)  is  designed  for  walking  on  loose 
snow,  in  a  level  country,  —  a  very  slow  process  of  locomotion.  It  is 
stepping  instead  of  sliding. 

In  1854,  Mr.  Thompson  made  a  bargain  with  T.  J.  Matteson,  of 
Murphey's  Camp,  Calaveras  County,  to  continue  postal  service 
through  the  winter,  on  wages  of  two  hundred  dollars  a  month,  no 
matter  if  the  snow  was  twenty  feet  deep.  From  that  time  the  settle- 
ment of  which  we  are  speaking  enjoyed  postal  facilities  in  winter  as 
well  as  summer ;  for  Thompson  made  a  success  of  his  enterprise. 

He  carried  a  pole  in  his  hand,  which  served  as  a  brake  on  down 
grades,  and  a  propeller  up  hill.  On  the  whole,  this  method  of  carry- 
ing the  mail  was  pleasurable  as  well  as  novel,  contrasted  with  the 
more  perilous  method  by  horse  and  sleigh.  In  Sierra  County,  Cali- 
fornia, young  people  skate  on  snow  instead  of  ice,  on  moonlight 
evenings,  for  pleasure  and  recreation.  The  sport  is  charged  with 
excitement  and  fun.  Young  ladies  challenge  young  men  to  a  race 
of  ten  or  fifteen  miles  on  the  snow-skate.  That  distance  is  readily 
accomplished  in  a  winter  evening. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  carry  the  mail  overland  to  California 
until  October,  1858,  when  the  first  mail  across  the  continent  reached 
San  Francisco,  Oct.  10.  But  in  1860,  Majors,  Russell  &  Co.,  of 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  established  the  famous  "Pony  Express."  This 
was  a  plan  to  carry  the  mail  on  horseback  at  a  rapid  speed,  changing 
horses  at  suitable  distances,  and  drivers  every  fifty  or  seventy-five 
miles.  The  great  object  was  to  get  letters  through  sooner.  The 
first  overland  mail  in  1858,  was  twenty-three  days  going  through; 
and  this  was  but  little  gain  over  the  carriage  by  sea.  The  mail  must 
be  carried  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  in  half  that  time,  to  answer 
the  demands  of  business. 


262 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


On  April  3,  1860,  the  "Pony  Express"  left  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  and 
San  Francisco  simultaneously,  and  carried  the  mail  through  in  ten 
days.  The  second  trip  consumed  fourteen  days ;  the  third,  nine 
days  ;  the  fourth,  ten  days ;  the  fifth,  nine  days  ;  and  the  sixth,  nine ; 
and  this  came  to  be  about  the  average  time  consumed  in  conveying 


PONY  EXPRESS  STATION. 

the  mail  overland  —  a  valuable  saving  of  time  to  business  men.  The 
actual  distance  from  St.  Joseph  to  San  Francisco,  by  the  Pony  Ex- 
press route,  was  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-six  miles. 

The  best  of  horses  and  the  bravest  of  men  were  required  for  this 
service.  For  the  breakneck  speed  required  was  too  much  for  the 
stuff  ordinary  animals  were  made  of,  and  the  attacks  of  Indians  and 
robbers  demanded  carriers  who  would  fight  or  die.  The  sacrifice  of 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


263 


horse  flesh  and  human  lives  was  large.  Tales  of  hardships  and  perils, 
stranger  than  fiction,  could  be  written  of  this  "  Pony  Express  "  enter- 
prise. All  weathers,  through  storm  and  sunshine,  summer's  heat 
and  winter's  cold,  whether  peace  reigned  or  savages  were  on  the  war- 
path, by  day  and  by  night,  over  prairie  and  mountain,  up  hill  and  down, 
the  mail-carrier  must  pursue  his  perilous  way  alone.  A  horse  bridled 
and  saddled  awaited  his  coming  at  each  station,  and  a  fresh  rider  at 
stated  intervals.  No  time  should  be  lost.  The  mail  must  keep  mov- 
ing. As  soon  as  one  rider  dashed  up  to  his  last  station  for  rest, 

_  _      another,  already 

mounted  upon 
his  fresh  steed, 
seized  the  mail, 
and  putting 
spurs  to  his 
horse,  was  soon 
out  of  sight. 

The  Pony 
Express  was  a 
genuine  Yankee 
invention ;  and 
its  remarkable 
success,  in  spite 
of  the  tremen- 
dous difficulties, 
caused  the  Uni- 
ted States  gov- 
ernment to  es- 
tablish an  over- 
land mail  route. 

This  fact,  together  with  the  construction  of  the  telegraph  line,  in  1862, 
caused  the  discontinuance  of  the  Pony  Express,  —  one  of  the  most 
novel  and  exciting  methods  of  doing  business  the  world  has  ever 
known.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  scarcely  twenty-five  years  have 
elapsed  since  our  national  government  attempted  to  carry  the  mail 
overland  to  California,  and  telegraphic  connection  between  the  ex- 
tremes of  the  East  and  West  was  established. 

The  cut  on  p.  264  is  an  exact  illustration  of  the  first  express  line  of 
Fargo  and  Wells  over  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  was  thought  to  be 
a  remarkable  triumph  over  difficulties  at  that  time,  and  no  one 
expected  that  the  method  would  ever  be  superseded  by  anything 


PONY  EXPRESS  IN  MOUNTAIN  STORM, 


264 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


better.  Yet  a  decade  had  scarcely  passed  away  before  the  comforta- 
ble rail-car  was  rushing  through  these  mountains  on  its  way  to  the 
Pacific  coast. 

The  growth  of  business,  from  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Colorado, 
was  surprising,  even  before  the  completion  of  the  railroad  to  Cali- 
fornia. Mr.  Crofutt  furnishes  figures  from  the  books  of  freighting 


FARGO  AND  WELLS   EXPRESS. 

firms  in  Atchison,  Kan.,  and  he  says:  "In  1865  this  place  was 
the  principal  point  on  the  Missouri  River,  from  which  freight  was 
forwarded  to  the  Great  West,  including  Colorado,  Utah,  Montana, 
etc.  There  were  loaded  at  this  place  4,480  wagons,  drawn  by  7,310 
mules,  and  29,720  oxen.  To  control  and  drive  these  trains,  an  army 
of  5,610  men  was  employed.  The  freight  taken  by  these  trains 
amounted  to  27,000  tons.  Add  to  these  authenticated  accounts  the 
estimated  business  of  the  other  shipping  points,  and  the  amount  is 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


265 


somewhat  astounding.  Competent  authority  estimated  the  amount 
of  freights  shipped  during  that  season  from  Kansas  City,  Leaven- 
worth,  St.  Joe,  Omaha,  and  Plattsmouth,  as  being  fully  equal,  if  not 


more  than  was  shipped  from  Atchison,  with  a  corresponding  num- 
ber of  men,  wagons,  mules,  and  oxen.  Assuming  these  estimates  to 
be  correct,  we  have  this  result:  During  1865,  there  were  employed 
in  this  business  8,960  wagons,  14,620  mules,  59,440  cattle,  and  1 1,220 


266  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

men,  who  moved  to  its  destination  54,000  tons  of  freight.  To  accom* 
plish  this,  the  enormous  sum  of  $7,289,300  was  invested  in  teams  and 
wagons  alone." 

Along  the  south  bank  of  the  Platte  River,  emigrant  trains,  with 
their  white-covered  wagons,  together  with  immense  freight-trains, 
rolled  in  almost  one  unbroken  line.  Sometimes  these  trains  ex- 
tended without  a  break  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  presenting  a 
very  novel  and  inspiring  scene. 

Many  of  the  teams  were  a  novel  spectacle,  on  account  of  their 
length  and  the  great  loads  carried.  Mining  tools  and  machinery  and 
agricultural  implements  were  all  conveyed  in  this  manner  over  the 
plains,  before  the  railroad  was  constructed.  We  think,  however,  that 
no  team  was  ever  seen  along  the  Platte  so  long  and  so  heavily  freighted 
as  a  mule  team  which  carried  boilers  and  machinery  weighing  fifty- 
four  thousand  pounds,  from  Elko  to  White  Pine,  in  1869.  The  illus- 
tration (p.  265)  furnishes  a  good  view  of  its  magnitude. 

Long  since  the  emigrant  trains  disappeared  from  the  south  bank 
of  the  Platte,  and  the  mule  was  exchanged  for  the  iron  horse.  The 
railroad  runs  along  the  north  bank  of  the  river  instead  of  the  south, 
which  is  essentially  forsaken. 

UNION    PACIFIC    RAILWAY. 

The  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  across  the  conti- 
nent was  the  greatest  marvel  of  our  age.  The  consummation  of  the 
enterprise  settled  the  high  destiny  of  the  New  West.  From  that 
moment  old  things  began  to  pass  away,  and  all  things  began  to  be 
new.  Progress  was  wonderful ;  and  now  it  sweeps  onward  more 
grandly  than  ever. 

The  precipitation  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  1861,  turned  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  a  railroad  across  the  continent.-  California 
was  so  widely  separated  from  the  other  States  of  the  Union,  that 
Mexico,  or  some  foreign  power,  might  readily  gain  possession  of  it. 
It  was  well  known  to  some  of  our  public  men  that  other  powers  were 
looking  wistfully  to  our  wealth  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Under  the  im- 
pulse of  this  new  development,  Congress,  in  1862,  adopted  measures 
for  the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  and  made  July  I, 
1876  (the  nation's  centennial  year),  the  utmost  limit  of  its  completion. 
The  first  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  road  was  made  in 
August,  1863,  but  months  were  consumed  in  harmonizing  conflicting 
interests  connected  with  the  location  of  the  road,  so  that  ground  was 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


267 


not  broken  until  the  fifth  day  of  November,  1865.  The  building  of 
the  road  commenced  at  a  point  on  the  Missouri  River,  near  Omaha, 
and  at  the  close  of  January,  1866,  forty  miles  of  road  had  been  con- 
structed. 


Some  enthusiastic  friends  of  the  road  predicted,  at  the  ceremony 
of  breaking  ground,  Nov.  5,  1865,  that  the  road  would  be  completed 
in  five  years ;  and  their  prediction  was  recorded  as  the  prophecy  of 


268  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

enthusiasts.  The  incredulous  smiled,  and  opponents  declared  the 
prediction  absurd.  General  Sherman  was  reported  to  have  said,  be- 
fore work  on  the  road  commenced  :  "  I  should  be  unwilling  to  buy  a 
ticket  over  it  for  my  grandchildren."  Five  years  thereafter  he  himself 
rode  over  it. 

The  road  was  completed  in  three  years,  six  months,  and  ten  days. 
Two  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  were  built  in  1866  ;  two  hundred 
and  eighty-five  in  1867;  and  the  remainder  finished  May  10,  1869. 
Work  on  the  road  was  commenced  at  both  ends,  and  the  two  build- 
ing parties  met  at  Promontory  Point,  Utah  Territory,  on  May  10, 
1869,  one  thousand  and  eighty-four  miles  from  Omaha,  and  eight 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  from  San  Francisco.  Promontory  Point  is 
four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  five  feet  above  the  sea. 

That  was  a  great  day  for  our  country  and  the  world  —  DRIVING 
THE  LAST  SPIKE.  A  large  concourse  of  people  assembled,  represent- 
ing nearly  every  State  of  the  Union,  together  with  several  foreign 
countries.  They  were  largely  public  men,  —  men  who  fully  appreci- 
ated the  greatness  and  value  of  the  work,  —  the  completion  of  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles  of  railway  in  one 
continuous  line.  The  ceremony  of  laying  the  last  rail,  and  connect- 
ing the  two  divisions  was  assigned  to  take  place  at  twelve  o'clock, 
noon.  Mr.  Crofutt  says  :  — 

"  To  give  effect  to  the  proceedings,  arrangements  had  been  made 
by  which  the  large  cities  of  the  Union  should  be  notified  of  the  exact 
minute  and  second  when  the  road  should  be  finished.  Telegraphic 
communications  were  organized  with  the  principal  cities  of  the  East 
and  West,  and  at  the  designated  hour  the  lines  were  put  in  connec- 
tion, and  all  other  business  suspended.'  In  San  Francisco  the  wires 
were  connected  with  the  fire-alarm  in  the  tower,  where  the  ponder- 
ous bell  could  spread  the  news  over  the  city  the  instant  the  event 
occurred.  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  New  York,  Cincinnati, 
and  Chicago  were  waiting  for  the  moment  to  arrive  when  the  chained 
lightning  should  be  loosed,  carrying  the  news  of  a  great  civil  victory 
over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

"  The  ho-ur  and  minute  designated  arrived,  and  Leland  Stanford, 
president,  assisted  by  other  officers  of  the  Central  Pacific,  came  for- 
ward ;  T.  C.  Durant,  vice-president  of  the  Union  Pacific,  assisted  by 
General  Dodge  and  others  of  the  same  company,  met  them  at  the 
end  of  the  rail,  where  they  reverently  paused,  while  Rev.  Dr.  Todd, 
of  Massachusetts,  invoked  the  divine  blessing.  Then  the  last  tie,  a 
beautiful  piece  of  workmanship,  of  California  laurel,  with  silver  plates 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


269 


on  which  were  suitable  inscriptions,  was  put  in  place,  and  the  last 
connecting  rails  were  laid  by  parties  from  each  company.  The  last 
spikes  were  then  presented,  one  of  gold  from  California,  one  of  silver 
from  Nevada,  and  one  of  gold,  silver,  and  iron  from  Arizona.  Presi- 
dent Stanford  then  took  the  hammer,  made  of  solid  silver,  —  and  to 
the  handle  of  which  were  attached  the  telegraph  wires,  —  and  with 
the  first  tap  on  the  head  of  the  gold  spike  at  twelve,  noon,  the  news 
of  the  event  was  flashed  over  the  continent.  Speeches  were  made 
as  each  spike  was  driven,  and  when  all  was  completed,  cheer  after 
cheer  rent  the  air  from  the  enthusiastic  assemblage. 

"  Then  the  '  Jupiter,'  a  locomotive  of  the  Central  Pacific  R.R.  Co., 
and  locomotive  No.  1 16,  of  the  Union  Pacific  R.R.  Co., approached  from 
each  way,  meeting  on  the  dividing  line,  where  they  rubbed  their  brown 

noses  together,  while  shak- 
ing hands,  as  illustrated  on 
preceding  page." 

The  progress  since  that 
day  is  strikingly  represent- 
ed by  contrasting  the  first 
and  last  depot  of  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific  Railroad.  The 
first  office  of  the  railroad 
in  Sacramento  was  a  good 
match  for  their  first  depot. 
We  can  furnish  a  correct 
illustration  of  their  first 
office,  but  not  of  their  first 
depot. 

The   reader  can  readily 
FIRST  OFFICE.  imagine    what    the    first 

depot    must   have  been  to 

match  the  above.  The  office  was  built  in  one  afternoon,  and  cost 
$150.  Probably  the  expense  of  the  first  depot  was  not  whittled 
down  quite  so  fine  as  that ;  but  its  appearance  would  excite  a  smile 
now  in  contrast  with  the  last  depot,  which  a  writer  describes  as 
follows  :  — 

"  It  is  situated  about  midway  between  the  bridge  over  the  Sacra- 
mento River  and  the  company's  shops,  fronts  north,  on  ground  filled 
in  and  specially  prepared  for  that  purpose.  The  main  building  is 
four  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  long,  and  seventy  feet  six  inches  wide, 
two  story.  The  front  has  four  large  arches  in  the  centre,  and  eight 


2/0 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


smaller  ones  on  each  side.  Three  tracks  run  through  the  building, 
and  a  platform  twenty-two  feet  wide.  In  the  rear  is  an  annex,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  long,  and  thirty-five  feet  wide,  one  story,  in 
which  is  a  dining-room,  forty  by  fifty-five  feet,  fourteen  feet  high; 
two  waiting-rooms,  twenty-six  by  thirty-five  feet.  On  the  first  floor 
are  ticket,  sleeping-car,  and  telegraph  offices,  lunch-counter  and  bag- 
gage-room, news-room,  etc.  The  second  story  is  occupied  by  the 
offices  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  Railroad,  superintendent  of  division 
of  the  Central  Pacific,  train  despatchers,  conductors,  rooms  for  storage, 
stationery,  etc." 


CENTRAL  PACIFIC    DEPOT. 

The  above  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  spacious  and  costly 
depot. 

We  spoke  of  the  commencement  of  the  work  near  Omaha,  Neb. 
Few  persons  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  labor  in  such  an  enter- 
prise. There  was  not  a  railroad  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
of  Omaha  when  the  ground  was  broken.  Much  of  the  material  used 
in  building  the  road  was  purchased  at  the  East,  and  was  transported 
by  freight-teams  over  this  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  ;  and  laborers 
with  their  baggage  were  carried  in  the  same  way.  The  engine  of 
seventy  horse-power,  which  the  company  must  have  to  drive  their 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


271 


works  at  Omaha,  was  carried  in  wagons  from  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 
There  was 'great  labor  and  expense  involved  in  this  transportation. 
Then  there  was  no  timber  suitable  for  railroad  purposes  west  of 
Omaha  for  five  hundred  miles.  Indeed,  there  was  little  east  of 
Omaha  within  five  hundred  miles.  So  that  ties  were  purchased  in 
Michigan,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York,  and  shipped  to  Omaha, — 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  distance.  —  in  wagons.  Each  tie, 
delivered  at  Omaha,  at  that  time,  cost  the  company  $2.50. 


INDIANS'  FIRST  VIEW  OF  THE  CARS. 

The  construction  of  the  trans-continental  railway  proved  a  remark- 
able civilizer.  Nothing  did  so  much  to  put  an  end  to  Indian  wars, 
and  break  up  organized  robbery  throughout  the  New  West,  as  con- 
necting the  East  with  the  Pacific  coast  by  rail.  San  Francisco  was 
a  month  distant  from  New  York  by  water,  and  two  months  by  land  ; 
but  now  the  two  cities  are  only  one  week  apart.  Mails  that  carried 
to  and  brought  from  friends  the  news  monthly,  now  accomplish  the 
errand  weekly.  The  hardships  and  perils  of  an  overland  journey  to 


272  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  Pacific  are  exchanged  for  the  ease  and  comfort  of  Pullman  cars, 
which  combine  the  accommodations  of  home  and  hotel  quite  largely. 

Evidently,  savage  tribes  regarded  the  invasion  of  the  locomotive 
with  its  train  of  cars,  as  the  daring  assault  of  a  foe  more  mysterious 
and  powerful  than  any  which  had  hitherto  challenged  their  bravery. 
The  shrill,  piercing  whistle  of  the  engine,  pouring  a  dense,  black 
volume  of  smoke  from  its  chimney,  and  the  thunder  of  the  train, 
played  upon  their  superstitious  souls,  to  fill  them  with  alarm  and 
apprehension.  It  seemed  to  them  that,  for  some  unknown  reason, 
the  Great  Spirit  had  resolved  to  destroy  their  hunting-grounds  and 
homes  in  the  wilderness.  The  locomotive  was  to  them  a  monster 
"fire-wagon, "  and  the  train  of  cars,  "heap  wagon,  no  hoss"  The 
whole  thing  was  mysterious  and  wonderful  to  them.  They  could  not 
comprehend  the  strange  spectacle.  At  first  they  viewed  the  cars 
from  the  hill-tops  at  a  distance,  not  daring  to  come  within  cannon- 
range  of  them. 

In  time  the  redskins  grew  bolder,  and,  it  is  claimed,  attacked  a 
"fire-wagon,"  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  it;  but  they  were  so 
seriously  discomfited  that  they  concluded  "fire-wagon  bad  medicine." 
Mr.  Hayes,  in  his  "  New  Colorado,  etc.,"  says  :  "  The  graders  and 
track-layers  often  had  to  fight  their  way,  and  there  is  a  tradition 
current  of  an  attempt  to  stop  an  express  train.  It  is  understood  that 
a  lariat  was  stretched  across  the  track,  breast  high,  and  held  by  some 
thirty  braves  on  each  side  ;  but,  says  the  narrator :  '  when  the  engi- 
neer fust  see  it,  he  didn't  know  what  on  airth  wuz  the  matter ;  but  in 
a  minute  more  he  bust  out  laughin',  and  he  ketched  hold  of  that 
throttle,  an'  he  opened  her  out  ;  an'  he  struck  that  there  lariat  agoin' 
about  forty  mile  an  hour,  an'  he  jest  piled  them  braves  up  everlastin' 
permiscuous,  you  bet !  ' 

The  famous  war-chief  Mi-ra-ha,  of  Arizona,  hearing  of  the  mighty 
"fire-wagons,"  gathered  a  party  of  Apache  Mohaves,  and  went  on  a 
journey  of  several  hundred  miles  to  see  the  "  terrible  "  machine. 

There  are  many  interesting  facts  and  incidents  connected  with  the 
building  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  worthy  of  a  record  here.  The 
whole  cost  of  the  road  from  Omaha  to  the  Pacific  coast  is  estimated 
to  be  $186,498,900.  It  is  not  claimed  that  these  figures  are  exact,  but 
they  express  the  approximate  cost  of  the  work.  There  were  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  road  about  900,000  tons  of  iron  rails,  1,700,000 
fish-plates,  6,800,000  bolts,  6,126,375  cross-ties,  and  23,505,500  spikes. 

Four  miles  west  of  Promontory  Point  is  a  sign-board,  on  which  is 
inscribed,  — 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  273 

"TEN  MILES  OF  TRACK  IN  ONE  DAY." 

Ten  miles  further  west  is  another  board  bearing  the  same  inscription, 
and  the  explanation  to  this,  — the  track  between  those  two  sign-boards 
was  laid  in  one  day,  —  more  track  than  was  ever  laid  in  a  day  before 
or  since.  The  cause  of  this  extra  effort  was  the  rivalry  created  be- 
tween the  Central  working-gang  west  of  Promontory  and  the  Union 
working-force  east  of  that  point.  The  Central  gang  boasted  that 
they  could  lay  more  track  in  a  day  than  the  Union.  The  Union  track- 
layers accepted  the  challenge,  and  laid  six  miles  in  one  day.  Then 
the  Central  workmen  laid  seven,  to  which  the  Union  men  responded 
by  laying  seven  and  a  half  miles.  Then  the  Central  gang  announced 
that  they  would  lay  ten  miles  of  track  in  one  day,  which  the  officers 
of  the  Union  declared  could  not  be  done,  Vice-President  Durant 
offering  to  bet  $10,000  that  it  could  not  be  done.  The  Central  men 
proposed  to  establish  their  claim  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April, 
when  there  was  only  fourteen  miles  of  track  to  be  laid,  to  connect 
with  the  Union  at  Promontory  Point.  Every  necessary  arrangement 
was  made,  and  on  the  appointed  day,  in  the  presence  of  the  officers 
of  the  road  and  a  committee  from  the  Union,  the  work  was  accom- 
plished. 

Mr.  Crofutt  describes  the  manner  of  doing  the  work  as  follows : 
"  When  the  car  loaded  with  rails  came  to  the  end  of  the  track,  the 
two  centre  rails  on  either  side  were  seized  with  iron  nippers,  hauled 
forward  off  the  car,  and  laid  on  the  ties  by  four  men  who  attended 
exclusively  to  this.  Over  these  rails  the  car  was  pushed  forward,  and 
the  process  repeated.  Behind  these  men  came  a  gang  of  men  who 
half  drove  the  spikes  and  screwed  on  the  fish-plates.  At  a  short 
interval  behind  these  came  a  gang  of  Chinamen,  who  drove  home  the 
spikes  already  inserted  and  added  the  rest.  Behind  these  came  a 
second  squad  of  Chinamen,  two  deep  on  each  side  of  the  track.  The 
inner  men  had  shovels,  the  outer  ones  picks.  Together  they  ballasted 
the  track.  The  average  rate  of  speed  at  which  all  these  processes 
were  carried  on  was  one  minute  and  forty-seven  and  one-half  seconds 
to  every  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  of  track  laid  down.  Those  unac- 
quainted with  the  enormous  amount  of  material  required  to  build  ten 
miles  of  railroad  can  learn  something  from  the  following  figures  :  It 
requires  25,800  cross-ties,  3,520  iron  rails,  55,000  spikes,  7,040  fish- 
plates, and  14,080  bolts,  the  whole  weighing  4,362,000  pounds.  This 
material  is  required  for  a  single  track,  exclusive  of  '  turnouts.' 

"  To   bring  this  material  forward  and   place  it  in  position,  over 


274  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

4,000  men  and  hundreds  of  cars  and  wagons  were  employed.  The 
discipline  acquired  in  the  four  years  since  the  commencement  of  the 
road  enabled  the  force  to  begin  at  the  usual  time  in  the  morning, 
calm  and  unexcited,  and  march  steadily  on  to  'VICTORY,'  as  the  place 
where  they  rested  at  1.30  P.M.  was  called,  having  laid  eight  miles  of 
track  in  six  hours.  Here  this  great  '  Central '  army  must  be  fed,  but 
Campbell  was  equal  to  the  requirements.  The  camp  and  water  train 
was  brought  up  at  the  proper  moment,  and  the  whole  force  took  din- 
ner, including  many  distinguished  guests.  After  the  '  hour  nooning ' 
the  army  was  again  on  the  march,  and  at  precisely  7  P.M.  ten  miles 
and  two  hundred  feet  had  been  completed. 

"When  this  was  done,  the  'Union'  committee  expressed  their 
satisfaction  and  returned  to  their  camp,  and  Campbell  sprang  upon 
the  engine  and  ran  it  over  the  ten  miles  of  track  in  forty  minutes, 
thus  demonstrating  that  the  work  was  well  done." 

Our  national  government  has  been  severely  criticised  by  many  of 
its  subjects  for  the  liberal  aid  it  rendered  to  the  enterprise.  First, 
government  granted  to  the  railroad  company  "every  alternate  section 
of  land  for  twenty  miles,  on  each  side  of  the  road,"  which  would  be 
twenty  sections,  or  12,800  acres  for  each  mile  of  the  road.  The  aggre- 
gate in  acres  for  the  whole  road  from  Omaha  to  Sacramento,  the  ter- 
minus of  the  road  when  it  was  first  built,  was  23,735,104  acres.  Gov- 
ernment agreed  also  to  issue  its  thirty-year  six  per  cent  bonds  in  aid 
of  the  work  as  follows :  for  the  least  expensive  portion  of  the  road 
over  the  plains,  $16,000  per  mile;  the  next  most  difficult  portion, 
$32,000  per  mile  ;  and  for  the  mountainous  district,  $48,000  per  mile. 
These  pledges  of  the  government  footed  up  $51,121,632. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  work,  fault-finders  appeared  in 
almost  every  grade  of  society.  Statesmen  and  laymen  alike  charged 
Congress  with  "extravagance,"  "unwisdom,"  "fooling  away  the 
nation's  land  and  money."  Multitudes  of  the  "common  people" 
accepted  the  criticisms  of  the  more  public  men,  and  seemed  to  take 
it  for  granted  that  government  had  acted  without  reason  in  the 
affair.  Thus  men  fretted,  grumbled,  and  bandied  hard  epithets  while 
the  work  went  bravely  on.  But  long  since,  most  of  them,  seeing 
their  folly,  abandoned  their  opposition,  until  now  the  dissatisfaction 
is  confined  chiefly  to  those  who  can  see  no  connection  between  a 
loyal  public  spirit  and  national  prosperity,  —  ignorant,  unpatriotic 
men.  The  people  understand  now,  that  but  for  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  the  government  lands  over  much  of  the  way,  would  be 
comparatively  valueless.  They  were  so  before  there  was  a  prospect 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  2?$ 

of  the  railroad  being  built.  But  on  the  day  of  driving  the  last  spike 
they  were  lifted  into  market  value ;  and  from  that  day  to  this  there 
has  been  a  constantly  increasing  demand  for  them  at  twice  their 
former  value.  The  best  bargain  the  United  States  government  ever 
made  was  when  it  contributed  twenty-three  million  acres  of  land  and 
fifty  millions  of  bonds,  to  aid  in  constructing  this  road  to  the  Pacific ; 
unless,  possibly,  we  except  its  bargain,  when,  through  President 
Jefferson,  it  purchased  the  "  Louisiana  Province "  of  the  French 
government  for  about  two  cents  an  acre. 

The  intelligent  citizens  of  our  country  to-day  appreciate  the  re- 
marks of  Senator  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  afterwards  Vice- President 
of  the  United  States,  who  said,  in  the  Thirty-Seventh  Congress, 
when  this  project  was  under  discussion:  — 

"  I  give  no  grudging  vote  in  giving  away  either  money  or  land. 
I  would  sink  $100,000,000  to  build  the  road,  and  do  it  most  cheer- 
fully, and  think  I  had  done  a  great  thing  for  my  country.  What  are 
$75,000,000  or  $100,000,000  in  opening  a  railroad  across  the  central 
regions  of  this  continent,  that  shall  connect  the  people  of  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Pacific,  and  bind  us  together  ?  Nothing.  As  to  the  lands,  I 
don't  grudge  them." 

After  the  road  had  been  completed  two  years,  Senator  Stewart, 
from  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  said  in  his  report  to  the 
United  States  Senate  :  — 

"  The  cost  of  the  overland  service  for  the  whole  period  —  from  the 
acquisition  of  our  Pacific  coast  possessions  down  to  the  completion 
of  the  Pacific  .railroad  —  was  over  $8,000,000  per  annum,  and  this 
cost  was  constantly  increasing. 

"The  cost,  since  the  completion  of  the  road,  is  the  annual  inter- 
est [which  includes  all  the  branches — Ed.]  — $3,897,129,  —  to  which 
must  be  added  one-half  the  charges  for  services  performed  by  the 
company,  about  $1,163,138  per  annum,  making  a  total  expenditure 
of  about  $5,000,000,  and  showing  a  saving  of  at  least  $3,000,000  per 
annum. 

"  This  calculation  is  upon  the  basis  that  none  of  the  interest  will 
ever  be  repaid  to  the  United  States,  except  what  is  paid  by  the  ser- 
vices, and  that  the  excess  of  interest  advanced  over  freights  is  a 
total  loss. 

"  In  this  statement  no  account  is  made  of  the  constant  destruc- 
tion of  life  and  private  property  by  Indians  ;  of  the  large  amounts  of 
money  paid  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  as  indemnity  for  dam- 
ages by  Indians  to  property  in  the  government  service  on  the  plains, 


2/6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

under  the  act  of  March  3,  1849;  of  the  increased  mail  facilities;  of 
the  prevention  of  Indian  wars  ;  of  the  increased  value  of  public  lands  ; 
of  the  development  of  the  coal  and  iron  mines  of  Wyoming,  and  the 
gold  and  silver  mines  of  Nevada  and  Utah  ;  of  the  value  of  the  road 
in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  in  utilizing  the  interior  of  the  conti- 
nent and  in  facilitating  trade  and  commerce  with  the  Pacific  coast 
and  Asia ;  and,  above  all,  in  cementing  the  Union  and  furnishing 
security  in  the  event  of  foreign  wars." 

According  to  Senator  Stewart,  the  government  saves  three  mil- 
lion dollars  annually  by  the  operation  of  this  railroad,  so  that  the  sav- 
ing of  seventeen  years  will  cover  the  bonds  which  it  pledged.  And 
if  the  gift  of  twenty-three  million  acres  of  land  made  salable  as  many 
more  acres  and  doubled  the  price,  surely  no  one  has  any  reason  to 

criticise  the  government  for  the  bargain. 

• 

POPULATION. 

Another  item  should  be  recorded  here,  as  showing  the  marvellous 
growth  of  the  West.  In  1860,  the  States  and  Territories  on  the  line 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  and  immediately  contiguous,  embraced 
a  population  of  only  554,301,  with  thirty-two  miles  of  railway,  and 
232  miles  of  telegraph.  In  1870  (the  expiration  of  the  ten  years  in 
which  the  Pacific  road  was  planned  and  built),  the  population  had  in- 
creased to  1,011,971,  with  4,191  miles  of  railway,  and  13,000  miles  of 
telegraph  completed,  and  hundreds  of  miles  more  in  progress.  The 
investment  of  capital,  too,  had  grown  to  be  enormous,  amounting  to 
$363,750,000,  without  including  investments  in  mining,  cattle-raising, 
agriculture,  and  other  industries.  To  represent  the  almost  incredible 
growth  down  to  the  present  time,  we  must  treble,  if  not  quadruple, 
the  aforesaid  figures. 

The  rapid  advance  of  the  population  of  the  New  West  is  phe- 
nomenal. Nevada's  gain  was  the  smallest,  and  yet  Nevada's  gain 
from  1870  to  1880  was  fifty  per  cent.  In  the  same  period,  California 
and  Idaho  gained  sixty  per  cent ;  Oregon,  one  hundred  per  cent ; 
Utah,  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent ;  Kansas,  two  hundred  per  cent ; 
Wyoming  two  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent ;  Nebraska  and  Washington 
Territory,  three  hundred  per  cent ;  Colorado,  four  hundred  per  cent ; 
Arizona,  four  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent ;  and  Dakota,  nine  hundred 
per  cent.  That  portion  of  our  country  which  lies  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi added  FOUR  MILLION  to  its  population  in  ten  years.  The  reader 
can  make  his  own  estimate  as  to  the  time,  near  at  hand,  when  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  277 

population  of  our  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  will  be  greater  than 
its  population  east  of  it.  For,  "westward  the  star  of  empire  takes 
its  way  "  at  the  rate  of  fifty  feet  every  twenty-four  hours,  or  three 
and  one-half  miles  each  year. 

There  are  more  inhabitants  and  wealth  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River  to-day  than  there  were  east  of  it  fifty  years  ago.  In  1820, 
Ohio  was  a  wilderness,  resounding  with  the  stroke  of  the  pioneer's 
axe ;  but  now  the  centre  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  is 
on  its  western  border.  Fifty  years  from  now,  its  centre  of  popula- 
tion will  be,  doubtless,  not  far  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
And,  more  than  to  any  other  enterprise,  the  country  is  indebted  to 
the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  for  this  growth. 

The  State  of  Nebraska,  so  recently  on  the  frontier  of  the  "  Far 
West  "  is  now  quite  central.  When  the  city  of  Washington  became 
the  national  capital,  it  was  too  far  west  to  suit  many  Eastern  people. 
It  is  now  altogether  one  side,  as  the  geography  of  the  country  proves, 
and  much  too  far  east  to  suit  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  West. 

The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  put  an  end  to  high 
prices.  During  the  winter  of  1865—66,  the  garrison  at  Fort  Sedg- 
wick,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Julesburg,  Nebraska,  paid  one  hundred 
and  five  dollars  per  cord  for  wood,  which  was  the  price  the  govern- 
ment paid  by  contract.  The  wood  was  purchased  in  Denver  at  a 
cost  of  about  twenty  dollars  per  cord,  and  the  actual  cost  of  hauling 
it  to  Julesburg  was  from  sixty  dollars  to  seventy-five  dollars  per  cord. 
The  government  allowed  contractors  to  put  in  what  hard  wood  they 
could  get  at  double  price, — two  hundred  and  ten  dollars  per  cord. 
Contractors  ceased  to  "  feather  their  own  nests,"  when  the  thunder 
of  the  train  broke  the  silence  of  prairie  and  mountain. 

Let  the  reader  return  now  to  the  hardships,  perils,  and  sufferings 
which  made  the  New  West  a  place  of  terror  to  multitudes  a  single 
generation  ago,  that  by  contrast  he  may  appreciate  the  almost  incred- 
ible achievements  of  enterprise,  in  building  railroads  through  a  wild 
mountainous  country,  where  so  recently  explorers  starved  and  died  in 
a  vain  search  for  a  way  to  the  Pacific  Slope. 

RAILROADS   OVER   MOUNTAINS. 

In  no  way  can  we  exhibit  the  marvel  of  enterprise  to  such  advan- 
tage as  by  a  description  of  railways  through  the  deepest  canons  and 
over  the  highest  mountains.  The  prediction,  fifty  years  ago,  that  the 
time  would  come  when  pleasure-seekers  would  travel  in  Pullman  cars, 


278 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


where  then  explorers  died  of  hunger,  would  have  been  received  with 
derisive  laughter.     Yet  this  strange  experience  has  been  realized. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  Arkansas  Canon  as  a  physical 
wonder ;  it  remains  to  show  how  human  enterprise  has  converted  it 
into  a  public  thoroughfare,  marvellous  both  in  its  conception  and  exe- 
cution. 

It  is  not  known  that  man  or  beast  ever  passed  through  this  remarka- 
ble gorge  until  the  year  1 870. 
When  the  project  of  con- 
structing a  railway  through 
it  was  first  made  public,  it 
was  received  with  doubt  and 
ridicule.  Engineers  said, 
"The  thing  is  impossible." 
After  elaborate  examination, 
however,  and  long,  thought- 
ful research  and  study,  an  en- 
gineer, in  whose  dictionary 
the  word  "impossible"  was 
never  put,  was  found  willing 
and  anxious  to  undertake  the 
work.  Under  his  skilful  man- 
agement, the  railway  was 
built,  and  a  new  and  scarcely 
dreamed  of  pleasure  offered 
to  the  public. 

It  was  necessary  to  begin 
the  work  of  constructing  the 
railway  several  hundred  feet 
above  the  river,  splitting  the 
granite  walls  downward. 
Workmen  were  suspended 
from  the  edge  of  the  caflon 
above  by  ropes,  and  lowered 
to  the  spot  where  operations 
must  commence,  as  seen  in  the  illustration.  There  they  hung,  midway 
between  the  opening  above  and  the  bed  of  the  river,  until  a  foothold  was 
secured  by  drilling  and  splitting.  The  obstacles  and  perils  attending 
such  a  remarkable  enterprise  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  engineer, 
with  faith  and  courage  enough  to  undertake  a  work  of  such  magnitude, 
must  be  accorded  a  high  place  among  the  world's  benefactors.  But 


LOCATING  THE  LINE. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  279 

all  difficulties  were  overcome  by  patience  and  perseverance,  and  the 
marvellous  work  was  accomplished  without  an  accident.  The  ten 
miles  of  railway  through  this  caflon  cost  $1,400,000  (one  million  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars),  or  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars 
per  mile. 

The  walls  of  the  canon,  two  thousand  feet  high,  approach  nearest 
to  each  other  at  the  "  Royal  Gorge,"  where  they  are  not  more  than 
thirty  feet  apart.  Here  the  passage  is  too  narrow  for  both  river  and 
railway,  so  a  bridge  is  suspended  over  the  chasm  by  rods,  over  which 
the  railway  train  passes  on  its  way.1  The  scene  is  totally  unlike  any- 
thing the  traveller  has  witnessed  before.  It  is  awe-inspiring  and  even 
fearful.  There  were  from  sixty  to  seventy  passengers  on  the  train 
when  the  author  passed  through  the  canon  in  an  observation-car. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken.  No  merriment  was  noticeable.  SileVit, 
serious  thoughtfulness  marked  every  countenance.  Several  passen- 
gers unconsciously  rose  to  their  feet  and  uncovered  their  heads,  as 
if  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Author  of  all  this  grandeur. 
A  woman  directly  in  front  of  the  writer  bowed  her  head  and  wept. 
A  score  of  others  showed  their  honest  sympathy  with  her  by  their 
irrepressible  emotion,  as  unbidden  tears  bedimmed  their  vision. 

The  scene  and  the  occasion  of  the  first  railway  excursion  through 
this  canon  was  graphically  described  by  the  Denver  Tribune  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"The  most  stupendous  achievement  of  railway  engineering  over 
Nature's  efforts  to  obstruct  the  pathway  of  commerce,  was  trium- 
phantly achieved  on  the  7th  of  May,  1879,  by  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
and  Santa  F6  Railway  Company,  which  on  that  day  made  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas,  with  a  train  of  cars  carry- 
ing an  excursion  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  numbering  over  two 
hundred  persons.  This  rock-bound  river  pathway  became  known  to 
Spanish  missionaries  as  early  as  the  year  1642.  From  that  time  it 
was  not  known  that  any  animal  life  had  ever  passed  through  it  suc- 
cessfully until  the  winter  of  1870.  The  approach  to  the  Canon  is 
gradual.  The  distant  hills  draw  nearer,  and  the  valley  of  the  Arkan- 
sas becomes  narrower  and  narrower,  until  the  river  is  shut  in  closely 
on  both  sides  by  high  mountains,  sloping  gently  away  and  covered 
with  verdure.  Then  the  slope  of  the  mountains  becomes  more  per- 
pendicular, and  the  hills  become  higher,  until  suddenly  the  river  is 
completely  shut  in  by  mountains  with  mighty  tops.  The  roar  and 
rattle  of  the  train  grows  louder  and  echoes  up  and  down.  The  train 

1  See  page  5. 


280  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

is  fairly  in  the  cafion.  It  moves  slowly.  The  mountain  walls  are  of 
a  dizzy  height,  and  so  close  together  that,  looking  ahead,  they  appear 
simply  to  form  a  crevice,  a  huge,  awful,  crooked  crevice,  through 
which  the  miserable  little  train  is  timidly  crawling.  The  curves  of 
the  canon  are  superb.  They  constitute  the  finishing  touch  to  its 
grandeur,  and  fill  the  mind  with  a  full  appreciation  of  this  great 
miracle  of  nature.  But  the  Royal  Gorge !  Imagine  two  almost  per- 
fectly perpendicular  walls  rising  to  the  height  of  two  thousand  feet, 
those  walls  presenting  jagged  and  irregular  masses  of  rock  that  on 
the  railroad  side  hang  over  the  train  all  creviced  and  ready  to  fall  in 
thousands  of  tons.  The  road-bed  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and 
masses  of  this  hang  over  it,  stretching  out  a  hundred  feet.  One 
cannot  look  up  to  the  top  of  this  wall  on  account  of  those  projecting, 
irregular  bluffs,  but  the  height  to  the  top,  even  as  measured  by  the 
eye,  disturbs  the  faculties  and  brings  on  vertigo.  The  cooped-up 
Arkansas  rushes  madly  by,  a  narrow  thread,  made  still  more  so  by  the 
rocks  thrown  into  it.  There  is  not  room  to  step  from  the  train  with- 
out pitching  into  the  river.  Not  a  word  is  uttered.  The  engineer 
whistles  occasionally,  and  timid  folks  look  for  the  rocks  to  fall.  It  is 
really  a  strain  on  the  mind  to  take  it  in ;  and  this  can  be  only  feebly 
done  on  a  single  trip.  Two  thousand  feet  above  you  are  the  tops 
of  the  mountain  walls.  You  are  imprisoned  in  a  crack  thirty  feet 
wide,  and  are  partially  under  one  mountain  wall.  You  can  see  on 
the  opposite  side  the  gradations  of  the  verdure,  rich  below,  impover- 
ished above.  And  the  curves  become  more  awful  as  you  look  ahead 
or  back. 

"  There  was  no  sun  in  the  Gorge,  but  it  slanted  down  the  opposite 
mountain  wall  as  the  party  returned  through  the  cafion,  increasing 
the  surpassing  beauty  of  the  scene." 

Leaving  the  Arkansas  Cafion,  and  traversing  the  upper  Arkansas 
Valley,  as  lovely  as  it  is  narrow,  the  train  begins  to  scale  the  heights 
of  Marshall  Pass.  The  serrated  peaks  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  are 
in  full  view  at  the  west,  and  the  scene  is  indescribably  grand.  Two 
ponderous  engines  puff  and  tug  upward  with  their  train  of  human 
freight.  Looking  far  away  towards  the  summit,  a  narrow  rim  or  line 
is  seen.  "  That  is  the  track  over  which  we  are  to  pass  to  the  sum- 
mit," said  the  conductor.  Winding  around  the  mountains,  through 
the  deep,  wild  ravines,  ascending  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  and  ten  feet  to  the  mile,  in  one  hour  the  train  triumphantly 
gains  the  summit,  ten  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above 
the  sea.  Such  a  panorama  here  opens  to  the  view !  The  Sangre  de 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


281 


THE  above  cut  shows  the  marvellous  railroading  over  Marshall  Pass.  The  Pass  is  entered  almost  im- 
perceptibly from  Poncha  Pass,  and  the  whole  wonderful  ascent  might  very  readily  be  imagined  as  one  and 
the  same.  The  summit  is  almost  eleven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the  tortuous  method  by  which 
the  daring  engineers  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railroad  have  achieved  this  summit  can  best  he  un- 
derstood by  studying  this  cut,  which  illustrates  the  alignment  of  the  track. 


282 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Cristo  Range  looms  up  in  the  distance,  wearing  a  crown  of  snow  that 
glistens  in  the  distance,  while  the  great  San  Luis  Park,  larger  than 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  stretches  out  at  its  base.  Westward  the 
mountain  peaks  are  less  towering,  but  the  scene  is  no  less  inspiring. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  283 

Looking  down  into  the  Tomichi  Valley,  two  thousand  feet,  perhaps, 
the  railway  track  is  seen  doubling  back  and  forth  in  its  zigzag  course 
to  Gunnison  City.  The  vision  is  unobstructed,  and  the  traveller 
begins  to  comprehend  what  a  joy  it  is  to  stand  upon  the  "  Conti- 
nental Divide,"  and  "survey  creation  round."  How  is  it  possible  for 
the  railroad  train  to  reach  the  valley  below  in  safety,  turning  sharp 
curves,  rounding  abrupt  headlands,  and  gliding  along  the  verge  of 
awful  precipices  ?  But  it  does  ;  and  when  the  delighted  passenger 
looks  backward  and  upward  from  the  valley  to  the  cold,  bleak,  be- 
wildering height  from  which  he  has  descended,  he  wonders  still  more 
how  it  was  done. 

This  route  is  embraced  in  what  the  managers  of  the  Rio  Grande 
Railway  denominate  "The  Scenic  Route" ;  and  truly  it  is  all  of  that. 
Any  railway  crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  the  Sierra  Nevadas 
must  necessarily  take  a  route  that  is  "scenic."  Grand  and  beauti- 
ful scenery  exists  in  profusion  everywhere.  Rising  from  extended 
"plains"  into  mountainous  regions,  through  canons  whose  mighty  walls 
on  either  side  tower  two  thousand  feet  towards  the  sky,  with  here 
and  there  a  pinnacle  hundreds  of  feet  higher,  peaks  of  different  shape 
and  size  piled  one  above  another,  cliff  on  cliff  ascending  to  dizzy 
heights,  rushing  torrents  far,  far  below  the  track,  and  silvery  cascades 
leaping  from  dizzy  summits,  with  here  and  there  a  park  or  lake 
stretching  out  for  miles  its  fruitful  acres  or  silver  sheen,  eight  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea,  —  such  a  route  possesses  enough  of  the 
grand,  beautiful,  and  sublime  to  challenge  the  appellation,  "  scenic." 

A  description  of  a  trip  through  Platte  Canon  will  still  further 
•exhibit  the  marvels  of  railroad  enterprise  in  the  New  West. 

Twenty  miles  from  Denver  the  train  entered  the  canon  upon  a 
shelf  so  narrow  as  to  suggest  the  thought  that  railroad  builders  were 
willing  to  accept  the  smallest  favor  from  the  contesting  Platte  tor- 
rent. Once  within  the  canon,  the  train  began  to  ascend  the  steep 
grade,  winding  its  serpentine  way  under  the  shadow  of  overhanging 
rocks  and  frowning  cliffs,  round  and  round,  higher  and  higher,  up, 
up,  up,  often  rising  two  hundred  feet  to  the  mile,  with  castellated 
walls  towering  a  thousand  feet  above,  and  here  and  there  a  moun- 
tain-peak shooting  two  or  three  thousand  feet  into  the  air,  present- 
ing a  scene  of  grandeur  and  sublimity  that  baffles  description.  We 
were  filled  with  surprise  and  wonder.  Every  curve  disclosed  new 
glories  ;  every  mile  bore  witness  to  the  indomitable  perseverance  and 
tact  of  man. 

The  "tug  of  war"  to  the  locomotives  was  on  the  home  stretch 


284 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


between  Webster  and  Kenosha  Divide,  which  is  10,139  feet  above 
the  sea.  The  ascent  is  steep  and  perilous,  and  the  railway  track 
doubles  back  and  forth  upon  itself  several  'times  in  order  to  scale  the 
heights.  It  is  two  miles  to  the  summit ;  but  that  point  cannot  be 
reached  without  winding  about,  going  eight  or  ten  miles  to  ascend 
two.  At  a  point  near  Webster,  the  conductor  requested  the  passen- 
gers to  look  down  into  the  valley  from  whence  they  had  come.  The 
descent  to  the  valley  was  almost  perpendicular,  and  the  distance  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  feet.  Obeying  the  request,  we 

looked  down,  and  lo  ! 
there  nestled  in  the 
valley  the  neat  lit- 
tle village  we  had 
left  some  time  be- 
fore directly  under 
us,  the  houses  ap- 
pearing no  larger 
than  hen-coops,  and 


HEAD  OF  SOUTH   PARK. 


a  horse  and  cart  on 
the  street  resem- 
bling a  child's  toy 
horse  and  cart.  A 
sense  of  danger  came 
over  us  as  we  gazed 
for  a  moment  and 
then  turned  away 
from  a  marvel  that 
one  does  not  care 
to  view  too  long. 

From  Kenosha  Divide  the  train  descended  into  South  Park,  intro- 
ducing the  sight-seer  to  a  spectacle  for  which  he  is  wholly  unpre- 
pared, —  a  park  level  as  a  house  floor,  containing  two  thousand  two 
hundred  square  miles,  nine  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  and  completely  walled  with  mountain  peaks,  covered 
with  perpetual  snow.  The  illustration  furnishes  the  curve  of  the  rail- 
way at  the  head  of  the  park,  with  a  view  of  the  enormous  plain  and 
the  tall  snowy  range. 

Before  the  time  of  railroads,  a  line  of  stages  passed  along  the 
northerly  rim  of  the  park,  over  Mosquito  Pass,  which  is  twelve 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  This  was  the  highest  stage  line  in  the 
world. 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE. 


285 


Some  of  the  heaviest  railroad  work  and  most  remarkable  scenery 
of  the  New  West  are  found  between  South  Park  and  Leadville  by 
the  way  of  Breckin  ridge.  An  observer  describes  the  scenic  features 
of  the  route  so  vividly,  that  we  quote  him  in  full.  "  From  Como, 
with  the  first  revolution  of  the  wheels,  the  climb  for  the  crest  between 
two  oceans  begins.  Ahead  are  the  hills,  snow-crowned  ;  behind,  the 
Park  where  a  hundred  shades  blend  in  a  picture  vast  and  rare.  In 
the  first  gulch  traversed,  miners  are  washing  gold.  Towns  and 


STAGE  LINE  OVER  MOSQUITO  PASS. 

ranches  dot  the  receding  levels.  Unexpected  tints  develop  with 
every  foot  of  progress.  The  feelings  of  the  moment  admit  of  no 
record.  As  timber  line  is  approached  there  is  something  awful  in 
the  grandeur.  The  mountains  tower  lifeless  and  sombre.  Even  the 
trees  are  dead  and  standing  gaunt  and  fire  scarred.  Far  below  a 
stream  crooks  itself  along  the  valley.  At  Boreas,  1 1 ,496  feet  above 
the  sea,  the  summit  is  reached.  From  this  point  the  view  is  sublime 
and  full  of  warmth.  The  trees  are  dense  and  luxuriant.  Their  piney 
odor  fills  the  summer  air.  Ten  Mile  range  rises  in  the  near  distance, 


286 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


ponderous  and  pure  under  its  snow.  You  are  looking  down  the 
valley  of  the  Blue,  by  many  considered  the  loveliest  encompassed  by 
the  Rockies.  Over  it  is  a  blue-gray  mist  like  a  veil,  that  parts  at  the 
touch  of  the  sun.  Mines  in  every  direction  place  romance  and  reality 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


287 


hand  in  hand.  The  Atlantic  Slope  fades  from  sight.  An  old  Ute 
trail  can  just  be  discerned  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  lost  now  and 
again  in  the  trees.  Pacific  Peak  frowns  down  snowily,  heedless  that 
summer  winds  are  playing  about  its  base.  It  is  full  of  silver  and 
gold,  and  men  are  delving  for  it." 

The  illustration  affords  the  reader  a  fine  view  of  the  railway  in  its 
upward  course  to  the  mountain  summit,  winding  about  among  the 
peaks,  which  are  marvellous  in  size  and  numbers,  until  the  laboring 
locomotive  halts  like  a  conqueror  upon  the  crest. 

The  writer  quoted  speaks  of  "timber  line."    "Timber  line"  is  the 


ABOVE  TIMBER   LINE. 

altitude  above  which  vegetation  ceases.  The  altitude  varies  from 
10,500  to  11,500  feet,  and  is  too  bleak  and  cold  for  tree  or  shrub  to 
live.  Barrenness  and  desolation,  or  perpetual  snow,  meet  the  eye 
above  the  altitude  named.  Our  illustration  shows  very  clearly  what 
"  timber  line  "  is. 

The  "  Alpine  Tunnel "  is  reached  through  "  Chalk  Creek  Canon," 
—  a  ride  of  wonderful  interest.  Some  tourists  have  declared  that 
this  ride  cannot  be  duplicated  in  thet  whole  world  ;  that  neither  writer 
nor  painter  can  do  justice  to  the  attractions.  From  personal  obser- 
vation we  affirm  that  some  of  the  wildest  scenery  which  we  saw  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  was  seen  here.  In  some  localities  it  ceased  to 


288 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


be  grand  and  became  awful.  The  thought  of  penetrating  such  an 
"  abyss  of  desolation  "  in  a  Pullman  car  would  have  seemed  absurd  but 
for  the  fact  that  ours  was  doing  that  very  thing.  A  photographic 
view  in  this  cafton,  at  an  interesting  point,  will  give  a  good  idea  of 
the  wild,  rough,  and  desolate  appearance  of  the  gorge. 

We  remember  with  peculiar  interest  a  descent  into  a  narrow  valley, 
where,  in  order  to  ascend  the  mountains  on  the  opposite  side,  the 
railway  made  a  detour  of  several  miles,  skirting  a  lot  of  five  or  six 
acres  or  more  in  performing  the  feat.  We  drew  a  plan  of  the  road 
in  our  note-book  at  the  time,  and  subsequently  found  a  pictorial 
representation  of  it  (see  following  page). 


CHALK  CREEK  CANON. 

At  a  point  eight  or  ten  miles  from  the  Alpine  Tunnel,  a  passen- 
ger said,  pointing  to  the  west,  "See  that  black  spot  yonder!  that  is 
the  tunnel."  The  "black  spot  "  appeared  to  be  about  as  large  as  a 
man's  hat,  and  a  mile  away.  All  were  surprised  to  be  told  that  it  was 
distant  eight  or  ten  miles. 

"The  tunnel  is  above  timber-line,"  continued  our  informant,  "too 
high  up  for  anything  to  grow." 

"  What  is  the  altitude  ?  "  we  asked. 

"  Eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet  above  the  sea, 
the  highest  railway  in  the  world,  except  one  in  the  South  American 
Ancles." 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


289 


2QO  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  tunnel  is  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet 
long,  with  approaches  which  add  eight  hundred  feet  more,  and  is  six 
hundred  feet  beneath  the  Pass.  It  conducts  the  passenger  from 
the;Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Slope  in  a  few  minutes. 

Nearly  two  years  were  occupied  in  building  this  tunnel.  "  Its 
twenty  thousand  lineal  feet  of  California  red-wood  lining  was  brought 
up  on  pack-horses  over  trails  which  had  known  the  touch  of  no  hoof 
but  the  mountain  sheep's,  and  where  man  himself  had  scarce  dared 
to  venture.  Operations  were  carried  on  from  both  ends,  and,  despite 
the  curvature,  when  the  respective  gangs  first  caught  the  flash  of 
each  other's  lamps,  they  were  less  than  one  inch  out  of  the  way  as 
the  engineer  had  mapped  it  for  them.  The  great  expense  was  only 
warranted  by  the  greatness  of  the  country,  which  is  now  fastened  to 
the  outer  world  by  this  link  of  stygian  darkness." 

The  point  in  the  tunnel  where  the  train  passes  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific  Slope  is  at  the  centre ;  and  the  writer  whom  we  have 
just  quoted  says:  "The  impetus  tells  the  moment  it  is  crossed,  and 
the  engines,  before  goaded  to  their  work,  have  to  be  held  in  severe 
curb  by  the  courageous  drivers.  Two  drops  of  water,  such  as  con- 
tinually fall  from  the  roof,  alight  but  half  an  inch  apart.  Trembling 
a  second  in  the  balance,  each  starts  with  its  fellows ;  and  when  they 
join  finally  the  ocean,  there  is  the  span  of  a  continent  between  them." 

The  reader  may  be  interested,  at  this  point,  in  the  following  about 
European  tunnels.  "At  the  present  time  the  Alpines  are  pierced  by 
three  remarkably  long  tunnels,  entering  Italy  from  France,  Switzer- 
land, and  Austrian  Tyrol,  respectively,  and  called  according  to  the 
mountain  chains  that  are  traversed,  the  Mt.  Cenis,  St.  Gothard,  and 
Arlberg  tunnels.  Of  these  Mt.  Cenis  is  seven  miles  and  three-quar- 
ters in  length.  Its  cost  was  $15,000,000.  The  St.  Gothard  tunnel 
is  nine  miles  and  a  quarter  in  length,  and  cost  $13,500,000,  the 
diminution  in  expense  being  due  principally  to  the  more  rapid 
progress  of  the  work  by  improvements  in  the  drilling-machines. 
The  Arlberg  tunnel  is  shorter  than  either  Mt.  Cenis  and  St.  Gothard, 
being  only  six  miles  and  a  half.  The  last  and  most  formidable  rival 
will  be  the  Simplon  tunnel,  by  which  the  existing  line  from  Geneva 
to  Martigni  and  Brieg  will  be  carried  through  the  mountains  to 
Dumo  d'Ossola,  and  so  on,  to  Pallanza  or  Stresa  on  the  Lago  Mag- 
giore.  As  this  tunnel  will  be  commenced  at  a  much  lower  level 
than  any  of  the  others,  it  will  necessarily  be  large,  the  rough  esti-. 
mate  being  twelve  miles  and  a  half  and  the  estimated  cost  somewhere 
about  $20,000,000." 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


291 


On  Line  of  U.  P.  Ra.lroad.  AROUND  THE   PALISADES. 


292  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Emerging  from  the  tunnel  upon  the  Pacific  slope,  the  scene  is 
indescribable.  The  train  creeps  cautiously  around  the  Palisades, 
pausing  a  few  moments  for  the  passengers  to  take  in  a  view  which  a 
trip  around  the  world  cannot  furnish. 

Here  the  Palisades  rise  perpendicularly  several  hundred  feet 
above  the  track  (narrow-gauge),  which  is  hewn  out  of  its  side.  More 
than  a  thousand  feet  below,  the  railway,  over  which  the  train  will 
pass,  is  visible,  resembling  a  narrow  shelf  in  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
Two  thousand  feet  and  more  below  is  Quartz  Creek,  running  like  a 
thread  of  silver  through  the  valley.  Poised  upon  this  shelf,  with 
unsurpassed  grandeur  above,  around,  and  beneath,  the  Christian 
observer  is  filled  with  "wonder,  love,  and  praise."  The  height  is 
perilous,  and  the  traveller  finds  himself  clutching  tightly  the  plat- 
form-rail as  'he  looks  down  into  the  deep  abyss  at  his  feet ;  yet  devoid 
of  fear.  The  scene  is  so  novel,  so  overpowering,  and  bewitching  in 
its  effects,  that  there  is  no  place  for  fear.  An  observer  said,  what 
other  observers  can  appreciate,  "  One  forgets  that  an  overturned 
coach  would  hurl  him  thousands  of  feet  down  into  the  abyss,  and 
feels  that  if  such  a  catastrophe  were  to  happen  while  his  eyes  feasted- 
on  that  glorious  landscape,  he  would  die  happy." 

"  How  many  feet  do  you  think  it  is  down  into  the  valley  ? "  we 
inquired  of  a  fellow-traveller,  in  whose  face  could  be  seen  traces  of 
alarm. 

"I  have  no  idea,"  he  answered  solemnly,  adding,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  "we  are  not  far  from  eternity," -  —  a  remark  that  is  true  of 
us  mortals  at  almost  any  time  and  anywhere  ;  perhaps  a  little  more  sig- 
nificant and  impressive  up  there  clinging  to  the  Palisades,  nearly  twelve 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  Nevertheless,  all  things  considered,  it 
is  true,  doubtless,  that  a  man  is  no  nearer  eternity  when  he  emerges 
from  the  "Alpine  Tunnel"  than  he  is  on  the  "Great  Plains."  There 
have  been  no  accidents  there ;  every  precaution  against  accident  has 
been  provided  without  regard  to  expense,  not  the  least  of  which  is  the 
instant  stopping  of  the  cars  by  automatic  pressure  in  case  of  disaster. 
We  do  not  deny  that  there  is  more  danger  in  travelling  by  rail  over 
mountains  than  there  is  over  plains ;  but  the  additional  novelty  and 
pleasure  offsets  the  peril.  While  I  am  writing,  the  news  come*s  that 
the  air-break  of  a  freight  train  near  Marshall  Pass  became  useless, 
when  the  train  dashed  forward  with  constantly  accelerating  speed, 
until,  going  at  the  rate  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles  an  hour,  the  locomotive 
leaped  from  the  track  down  into  the  gorge  hundreds  of  feet  below, 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


293 


carrying  the  twenty  loaded  cars  with  it,  —  a  complete  wreck  of 
everything. 

Mr.  Crofutt  relates  a  thrilling  incident  in  Echo  Canon,  illustrative 
of  the  foregoing  :  — 

"  Mr.  Miles,  or  '  Paddy,'  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  foreman 
to  the  Casement  brothers,  who  laid  the  track  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad.  One  morning,  Paddy  started  down  Echo  Canon  with  a 
long  train  of  flat  cars,  sixteen  in  number,  loaded  with  ties  and  iron 
rails  for  the  road  below  Echo  City,  where  were  then,  as  now,  the  sta- 


THE  RUNAWAY  TRAIN. 


tions,  switches,  etc.  The  reader  will  remember  that  from  the  Divide 
to  the  mouth  of  Echo  Cafton  is  a  heavy  grade,  no  level  place  on  which 
cars  wtiuld  slack  their  speed. 

"  The  train  had  proceeded  but  a  few  miles  down  the  cafton,  going 
at  a  lively  rate,  when  the  engineer  discovered  that  the  train  had 
parted,  and  four  loaded  cars  had  been  left  behind.  Where  the  train 
parted,  the  grade  was  easy,  hence  that  portion  attached  to  the  loco- 
motive had  gained  about  half  a  mile  on  the  stray  cars.  But  when 
discovered  they  were  on  heavy  grade  and  coming  down  on  the  train 
with  lightning  speed.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  leading  train  could 
not  stop  to  pick  them  up,  for  at  the  rate  of  speed  at  which  they  were 


294  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

approaching,  a  collision  would  shiver  both  trains,  destroying  them  and 
the  lives  of  those  on  board. 

"  There  were  two  men  —  Dutchmen  — on  the  loose  cars,  who  might 
put  on  the  brakes  and  stop  the  runaway.  The  whistle  was  sounded, 
but  they  heard  it  not ;  they  were  fast  asleep  behind  the  pile  of  ties. 
On  came  the  cars,  fairly  bounding  from  the  track  in  their  unguided 
speed,  and  away  shot  the  locomotive  and  train.  Away  they  flew,  on, 
around  curves  and  over  bridges,  past  rocky  points  and  bold  headlands  ; 
on  with  the  speed  of  the  wind,  but  no  faster  than  came  the  cars  be- 
hind him. 

"  '  Let  on  the  steam  ! '  cried  Paddy  ;  and  with  the  throttle  chock 
open,  with  wild,  terrible  screams  of  the  whistle,  the  locomotive 
plunged  through  the  gorge,  the  mighty  rocks  sending  back  the 
screams  in  a  thousand  ringing  echoes. 

" '  Off  with  the  ties ! '  shouted  Paddy  once  more,  as  the  whistle 
shouted  its  warning  to  the  station  men  ahead  to  keep  the  track 
straight  and  free,  for  there  was  no  time  to  pause  —  that  terrible  train 
was  close  on  to  them,  and  if  they  collided,  the  canon  would  have  a 
fearful  item  added  to  its  history.  On  went  the  train  past  the  side- 
tracks, the  almost  frantic  men  throwing  off  the  ties,  in  hopes  that 
some  of  them  would  remain  on  the  track,  throw  off  the  runaways, 
and  thus  save  the  forward  train.  Down  the  gorge  they  plunged,  the 
terror  keeping  close  by  them,  leaping  along,  —  almost  flying,  said  one, 
who  told  us  the  tale,  — while  the  locomotive  strained  every  iron  nerve 
to  gain  on  its  dreaded  follower.  Again  the  wild  scream  of  the  loco- 
motive, of  'switches  open,'  rung  out  on  the  air,  and  was  heard  and 
understood  in  Echo  City.  The  trouble  was  surmised,  not  known,  but 
the  switches  were  ready  ;  and  if  the  leading  train  had  but  the  distance, 
it  could  pass  on,  and  the  following  cars  be  switched  off  the  track  and 
allowed  to  spend  their  force  against  the  mountain  side.  On  shot  the 
locomotive,  like  an  arrow  from  the  bow,  the  men  throwing  over  the 
ties  until  the  train  was  well-nigh  unloaded,  when  just  as  they  were 
close  to  the  curve  by  which  the  train  arrives  at  the  station,  they  saw 
the  dreaded  train  strike  a  tie,  or  something  equally  of  service,  and 
with  a  desperate  plunge  rush  down  the  embankment  into  the  little 
valley  and  creek  below.  'Down  brakes,'  screamed  the  engine,  and 
in  a  moment  more  the  cars  entered  Echo  City,  and  were  quietly 
waiting  on  the  side-track  for  further  developments.  The  excited 
crowd,  alarmed  by  the  repeated  whistling,  was  soon  informed  of  the 
cause  of  these  screams,  and  immediately  went  up  the  track  to  the 
scene  of  the  disaster  to  bring  in  the  dead  bodies.  When  they  arrived, 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


295 


they  found  the  poor  unfortunates  sitting  on  the  bank  unharmed,  hav- 
ing just  woke  up.  The  first  they  knew  of  the  trouble  was  when  they 
were  pitched  away  from  the  broken  cars  on  the  soft  greensward. 

The  debris  of 
car  frames, 
wheels,  and  ties, 
gave  them  the 
first  intimation 
they  had  re- 
ceived that 
something  was 
the  matter." 

Yes,  there  is 
danger,  but 
there  is  also  de- 
light ;  and  the 
fascination  of 
the  latter  more 
than  counterbal- 
ances the  reali- 
ty of  the  former. 
The  descent 
from  the  Pali- 
sades is  made  by 
the  "Hair- Pin 
Curve,"  so 
named  from  the 
resem  bl  an  c  e 
which  the  curve 
in  the  road 
bears  to  a  hair- 
pin. 

The  array  of 
mountains,  and 
the  splendors  of 
the  scene  on 

every  hand,  do  not  diminish  on  leaving  the  Palisades.  Grand  beyond 
comparison  rises  the  Uncompahgre,  14,235  feet  above  the  sea,  a  mon- 
arch among  the  mountain  peaks,  leaning  in  royal  dignity  against  the 
horizon,  and  looking  down  from  his  pinnacle  of  fame  upon  the  les- 
ser peaks  around  him. 


UNCOMPAHGRE  PEAKS. 


296 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Ere  this  the  reader  has  inquired  within  himself,  why  railroads  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  are  not  blockaded  with  snow  through  the 
winter.  At  the  East,  where  the  snow-fall  is  far  less  than  it  is  among 
the  mountains  of  the  West,  railroads  are  frequently  blocked  with 
snow  for  several  days.  And  yet,  it  is  claimed  that,  on  the  whole, 
trains  on  the  mountain-roads  are  not  so  frequently  delayed  by  snow 
as  trains  are  in  the  East.  It  was  not  so,  however,  in  the  infancy  of 
these  railways,  as  the  long  and  expensive  blockade  of  February  and 
March,  1 869,  on  the  Union  Pacific,  proves.  When  the  railroad  across 
the  continent  was  built,  it  was  known  that  snow-sheds  or  galleries, 
would  be  necessa- 
ry over  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Moun- 
tains, where  the 
snow  is  often  from 
sixteen  to  twenty 
feet  deep.  But 
•  such  a  safeguard 
against  heavy 
snows  was  not 
thought  to  be  ne- 
cessary in  the 
Rockies,  until  ex- 
perience exposed 
the  mistake.  Then 
snow-fences  were 
resorted  to  for  pro- 
tection, as  in  the 
East,  but  in  many 
localities  they 

proved  useless.  Hence,  snow-sheds  are  the  chief  reliance  now. 
The  above  cut  gives  a  fine  view  of  a  curve  in  the  Central  Pacific 
Railway,  on  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  with  the  snow-sheds. 

On  one  section  of  this  railway  there  are  twenty-eight  miles  of 
continuous  snow-sheds,  including  several  tunnels  from  one  to  sixteen 
hundred  feet  in  length.  If  all  the  snow-sheds  built  by  the  Uniop 
and  Central  Pacific  were  placed  in  line,  they  would  extend  nearly  a 
hundred  miles,  erected  at  a  cost  of  one  million  dollars.  They  are 
built  in  the  most  substantial  manner,  stone  and  the  heaviest  timber 
being  used.  The  following  cut  shows  the  interior  of  a  snow-shed. 

"  Snow-slides "    are    more    perilous    than    snow-storms.       Hence 


SNOW  GALLERIES,  SIERRA  NEVADA  MOUNTAINS. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


297 


sheds  on  the  mountain  sides  are  built  so  as  to  conduct  the  avalanche 
over  the  roof  into  the  valley  below ;  so  that  while  the  passenger  train 
glides  safely  through  the  artificial  gallery,  a  mighty  avalanche  of 


INTERIOR  OF  SNOW-SHEDS. 


snow  may  be  tumbling  over  it,  and  bury,  forty  feet  deep,  the  hamlet 
or  village  in  the  valley.  If  a  snow-shed  be  necessary  on  a  compara- 
tively level  section,  it  is  built  with  a  sharp  roof,  like  any  other  build- 
ing designed  to  support  a  heavy  weight  of  snow. 


298 


MARVELS    OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


A  good  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  a  snow-slide  may  be  derived  from 
the  fact  that,  in  the  winter  of  1883-84,  a  slide  completely  buried  a 
mining  town  in  one  of  the  canons  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  already 
described,  destroying  most  of  the  buildings.  It  is  claimed  that  a 
snow-slide  in  the  Animas  Canon,  two  years  ago,  was  a  half-mile  in 
length,  and  when  it  landed  in  the  deep  gorge  below,  the  snow  was 
forty  feet  deep.  A  still  more  disastrous  slide,  at  the  Virginius  mine, 
near  Ouray,  was  reported  by  a  Colorado  paper  as  follows  :  — 

"  When  the  avalanche  descended  upon  the  boarding-house  at  four 
o'clock,  Saturday,  there  were  eleven  men  in  it,  some  asleep  in  their 
bunks  and  others  waiting  to  go  on  a  night  shift ;  while  Armstrong 
and  Shieldler  were  in  the  kitchen.  Boyle  escaped  through  an  open- 
ing and  ran  for  assistance,  and  all  the  men  at  the  mines  were  speedily 
engaged  in  tunnelling  the  snow  to  save  the  buried  men. 


THE  GREAT  SNOW-PLOUGH. 


"The  party  from  Ouray,  which  started  out  Saturday,  reached  the 
post-office  that  night,  having  had  to  abandon  their  horses  and  use 
snow-shoes.  Reaching  the  Monongahela  mine,  they  found  the  Vir- 
ginius workmen  there  with  four  corpses.  Sleds  were  made  for  the 
dead  bodies,  and  the  parties  started  yesterday  to  return  to  Ouray, 
David  Reed  in  front  breaking  the  trail.  Just  as  they  reached  Cum- 
berland basin,  another  snow-slide  came  down  on  David  Reed,  and  in 
a  second  had  carried  him  into  the  air  and  over  a  precipice  before  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  299 

eyes  of  the  horror-stricken  men.  Following  in  another  instant,  a 
second  snow-slide  descended  upon  the  whole  party,  carrying  away 
the  thirteen  men. 

"  The  sleds  they  were  dragging  and  the  corpses  of  the  men  went 
nearly  two  thousand  feet  down  the  mountain  with  the  slide,  four  of 
them  being  hurled  over  a  precipice  five  hundred  feet  high.  Superin- 
tendent Reed  was  carried  to  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  where  a  tree 
caught  and  held  him.  The  first  man  to  escape  from  the  slide  was 
Doyle,  who  arose  bruised  and  dazed,  and  looking  around,  spied  hands 
and  feet  protruding  from  the  snow  all  round.  He  went  to  work  to  help 
the  buried,  each  man  as  fast  as  rescued  assisting  to  save  the  others 
till  all  were  rescued.  The  bodies  of  the  four  men  killed  at  Virginius 
lie  under  twenty  feet  of  snow,  and  probably  will  remain  there  until 
spring." 

The  Central  Pacific  Railway  has  a  mammoth  snow-plough  which 
rests  upon  two  four-wheeled  trucks.  It  is  twenty-eight  feet  long,  ten 
and  a  half  feet  wide,  thirteen  and  a  quarter  high,  and  weighs  FORTY- 
ONE  THOUSAND  EIGHT  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY  POUNDS  !  It  was  OttCC 

driven  by  ten  locomotives  into  a  snow-bank  on  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour. 

In  this  connection  the  following  statement  by  the  London  Times 
will  be  read  with  interest :  — 

"  A  statistical  memoir  lately  issued  by  the  Italian  government  en- 
ables us  to  form  some  idea  of  the  great  destruction  caused  annually  by 
avalanches  in  the  Alpine  districts  of  Italy  and  the  Tyrol.  In  the  single 
district  of  Val  di  Susa  two  avalanches  fell  on  Jan.  18  ;  one,  at  Dev- 
ies,  between  Exilles  and  Salbertand,  was  estimated  at  about  sixty 
metres  long  and  six  deep,  and  slid  down  the  slope  a  distance  of  about 
a  kilometre.  Its  volume  is  supposed  to  have  been  three  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  cubic  metres,  and  the  weight  of  snow  composing 
it  was  forty-five  thousand  tons.  It  destroyed  sixteen  houses  and 
killed  forty-three  persons.  The  second  avalanche  of  Jan.  18  fell 
near  Venaus,  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  metres  long,  its  volume  was 
about  three  million  cubic  metres,  and  it  bore  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
million  tons  of  snow.  But  although  the  slide  extended  to  nearly  four 
kilometres,  only  twenty-four  houses  were  wrecked  by  it  and  six  per- 
sons killed.  A  third  avalanche,  which  fell  at  Maflotto,  and  was  com- 
puted to  contain  little  more  than  one  thousand  six  hundred  tons' 
weight  of  snow,  was  much  more  destructive,  killing  seventeen  persons 
and  destroying  eighteen  homes." 


3oo 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

• 


OVER  VETA  PASS,  THROUGH  TOLTEC  GORGE. 

At  eight  different  points  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railway  has 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains,  instead  of  piercing  them  with  long 
and  dismal  tunnels.  The  altitude  attained  in  the  passage  of  Veta 


301 


Pass  is  not  so  great  as  that  of  Alpine  or  Marshall  passes,  but  the 
^cenery  is  not  less  remarkable.  The  ascent  begins  along  the  base 
of  La  Veta  Mountain,  up  a  defile,  at  the  head  of  which  stands  Dump 
Mountain,  defiant  and  frowning.  The  railway  approaches  the  moun- 
tain by  "indirection,"  and  doubles  so  sharply  upon  itself  that  the 

curve  has  become 
famous  as  the 
•'Mule  Shoe 
Curve." 

From  this  point 
the  ascent  is  very 
difficult,  the  grade 
being  two  hundred 
and  seventeen  feet 
to  the  mile.  The 
road-bed  is  little 
more  than  a  groove 
cut  in  the  sides  of 
the  mountain, 
winding  hither  and 
thither  over  the 
Sangre  de  Christo 
Range,  which  it 
crosses  at  Veta 
Pass  at  an  altitude 
of  nine  thousand 
three  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  feet.  A 
bowlder  started 
from  this  point 
goes  thundering 
down  the  precipi- 
tous walls  into  the 

deep,  temble  gOrgC 

below,  a  mile  away. 
A  tourist  christened  the  railway  at  this  interesting  point  "  RAILROAD 
ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS,"  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  tempests  rage,  and 
the  artillery  of  heaven  thunders  and  lightens  below  the  track. 

Passengers  enjoy  a  sublime  view  from  the  train  at  Veta  Pass. 
Looking  eastward,  the  sky  shuts  down  upon  the  distant  plains,  while, 
at  the  west,  the  majestic  form  of  Sierra  Blanca,  the  highest  mountain 


On  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 

CROSSING  SANGRE  DE  CHRISTO  RANGE. 


302 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 


peak  in  this  country,  rises  grandly  fourteen  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixty-four  feet.  To  the  south,  the  symmetrical  "  Spanish  Peaks  ", 
stand  forth  so  lovely  and  yet  grand  in  their  appearance  as  to  seem 
phantom-like. 

The  peaks  are  respectively  twelve  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  and  thirteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  and 
are  known  also  as  "The  Twin  Sisters,"  their  Indian  name  being 
Wahatoga,  which  means  "  breast."  These  two  mountains  stand  out 
so  boldly  as  to  seem  almost  separated  from  the  range  to  which  they 
belong.  In  a  clear 
day  they  have  been 
seen  from  Denver, 
two  hundred  miles. 

From  Veta  Pass 
the  train  descends, 
by  a  zig-zag  course, 
into  San  Luis  Park 
— a  level  tract  of 
land  measuring 
eight  thousand 
square  miles,  and 
containing  over 
five  million  acres, 
larger  than  the 
whole  State  of 
Massachusetts. 
The  change  from 
mountain  to  prai- 
rie scenery  contrib- 
utes largely  to  the 

novelty  and  pleasure  of  the  trip.  The  entrance  to  San  Luis  Park  is 
a  beautiful  picture  in  itself.  Fort  Garland  is  located  there  for  the 
defence  of  settlers  against  the  Indians.  The  buildings  are  all  adobe, 
that  is,  built  of  sun-burnt  brick,  making  a  neat,  attractive  little  village. 
The  fort  will  soon  be  abandoned,  no  doubt,  as  the  danger  from  In- 
dian depredations  has  ceased  to  exist. 

It  is  twenty  miles  and  more  from  Antonito  to  the  summit  of  the 
beautiful  mesa  which  the  railway  traverses.  "  The  ride  up  this 
mesa,  for  over  twenty  miles,  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  imagin- 
able. The  railway  mounts  the  heights  by  an  easy  grade,  winding  in 
labyrinthine  curves  among  grassy  knolls  and  parks  of  dark  green 


FORT  GARLAND. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


303 


pines,  and  piftons,  allowing  the  passengers  to  measure  the  elevation 
by  the  plains  below,  and  affording  a  hundred  different  views  of  Sierra 
Blanca,  the  Sangre  de  Christo  range,  and  the  smooth  outlines  of  the 
Antonio  Mountains."  At  one  place,  the  railway  doubles  upon  itself 
twice,  making  three  parallel  tracks  in  the  distance  of  a  few  rods,  and, 
from  its  shape,  as  represented  in  the  cut,  is  called  "The  Whiplash." 


THE  WHIPLASH. 

A  waggish  traveller,  dilating  upon  the  great  pleasure  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  ride  over  this  mesa  in  a  Pullman  car,  says  that  it  is  the 
best  illustration  he  has  found  of  being  "  carried  to  the  skies  on 
flowery  beds  of  ease." 

In  this  part  of  Colorado  the  "(iarden  of  the  Gods"  is  repeated 
in  numerous  monumental  rocks  which  appear  among  the  pines,  rising 
in  fantastic  columns,  some  of  them  nearly  as  high  as  the  trees.  Trig-., 
artist  has  produced  an  excellent  representation  of  one  of  the  tallest. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  curves  of  this  railway  occurs  in  one 
of  the  wildest  localities  known.  In  the  vallev  beneath  the  road  are 


304 


MARl'ELS  OF  THE  NKll'   ll'KST. 


numerous  tall  pine  and  hemlock  trees,  with  many  monumental  rocks 
rising  high  and  dismal  among  them,  as  if  a  cemetery  for  departed 
gods  had  been  laid  out  there,  and  the  silence  of  the  dead  had  been 


LOT'S  WIFE. 


unbroken  until  the  daring  enterprise  of  civilization  penetrated  the 
strange  solitude.  It  is  known  as  "Phantom  Curve."  With  the 
monument-shaped  rocks  on  one  side,  and  the  castellated  cliffs,  five 
or  six  hundred  feet  high,  on  the  other,  the  scene  is  strangely  wild 
and  mysterious. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


305 


At  one  point  on  "  Phantom  Curve  "  the  first  view  of  Toltec  Tun- 
nel is  obtained  —  so  far  away  that  it  appears  only  as  a  small  black 
spot  on  the  face  of  the  cliffs. 

The  reader  can  but  partially  imagine  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery 
viewed  from  the  train  at  the  opening  of  the  tunnel,  which  is  cut  six 
hundred  feet  through  solid  rock.  A  writer  says  of  it  :  "  Here  the 
beauty  and  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery  are  beyond  description.  All 
the  features  of  the  landscape  are  on  a  Titanic  scale.  The  track  over 
which  the  train  has  just  passed  can  be  seen  circling  the  brow  of 
the  mountain  for  miles,  —  a  tiny,  yellowish  thread.  Far  beyond  the 
distant  heights  that  shut  in  the  valley  rises  the  round  top  of  San 
Antonio  Mountain,  while  across  the  valley  the  opposite  mountains 
rise  higher  and  higher  in  vast,  receding,  wooded  slopes.  The  narrow 


On  L 


PHANTOM  CURVE. 


vale,  with  its  silvery  stream  and  park-like  groves  of  pine  and  aspen, 
—  among  which  it  would  be  delightful  to  camp  during  the  long  days 
of  summer,  —  recalls  the  happy  valley  of  the  Abyssinian  princes. 
Nor  is  color  wanting  to  complete  the  charm  of  the  picture.  The 
dark  hue  of  the  pines,  the  light  green  and  white  of  the  shivering 
aspen,  and  the  red  and  gray  that  alternate  in  the  cliffs,  add  their 
subtle  charms  to  the  sublime  panorama.  When  the  train  approaches 
the  end  of  the  wall,  the  passengers  look  almost  straight  down  to 
where  the  stream  emerges  in  foaming  cascades  from  the  jaws  of  Tol- 
tec Gorge.  Down !  down !  How  little  and  how  much  the  word 
may  mean  !  Gazing  from  some  lofty  church-spire,  or  from  the  top  of 
one  of  the  towers  of  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  Bridge,  more  than 
two  hundred  feet  high,  who  does  not  grow  faint  and  pale,  and  feel  his 
heart  throbbing  fiercely  in  his  breast  ?  But  do  you  call  that  depth  ? 


306 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 


TOLTEC  TUNNEL. 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE. 


307 


Double  that  distance  downward  from  the  railway  track  at  Toltec 
Gorge,  and  you  have  hardly  begun  the  descent.  The  stone  you  toss 
from  your  hand  drops  far  below,  and  you  hear  it  strike  again  and 
again,  hundreds  added  to  hundreds  of  feet  distant,  and  yet  silence 
does  not  signify  that  it  has  reached  the  bottom  ;  it  is  simply  out  of 
hearing.  Double  the  distance  again,  so  far  that  the  strongest  voice 
can  scarcely  make  itself  heard,  and  when  that  terrible  gulf  is  passed 
you  might  still  look  down  upon  the  tallest  steeple  in  America ;  for 
the  railway  track  at  the  brink  of  the  chasm  of  Toltec  Gorge  is  over 
eleven  hundred  feet  above  Los  Pinos  Creek.  But  in  a  flash,  in  the 


•I 

•1 


WEST  END  OF  THE  TOLTEC  TUNNEL. 

twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  scene  is  changed.  One  parting  glance  at 
the  far-stretching  valley  and  its  mountain  barriers,  one  shuddering, 
giddy  look  far  down  the  precipice  among  the  jagged  rocks,  and  then 
all  is  hid  from  view  in  the  darkness  of  the  tunnel." 

The  train  emerges  from  the  tunnel  on  the  west  side  of  the  moun- 
tain, on  the  very  brink  of  a  frightful  precipice,  fifteen  hundred  feet 
deep,  while  the  cliffs  opposite  rise  over  two  thousand  one  hundred 
feet. 

The  writer  just  quoted  says:  "At  the  most  critical  point,  where 
the  downward  view  takes  in  the  deepest  depths  of  the  gorge,  lined 
with  crags  and  splintered  rocks,  and  bowlders,  as  large  as  churches, 
fallen  from  the  cliffs  above,  amid  which  the  stream  clashes  downward 


308 


ATARI' ELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


in  snow-white  cataracts,  the  train  runs  upon  a  solid  bridge  of  trestle- 
work,  set  in  the  rock,  as  if  it  were  a  balcony  from  which  to  obtain 
the  finest  possible  view  of  this  most  wonderful  scene." 

The  cut  shows  the  trestle-work  quite  plainly,  and  gives  a  good 
idea  of  the  descent  on  the  west  side  of  the  mountain.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  "Toltec  Gorge"  is  entered  at  the  top,  while  the 
"  Grand  Caflon  of  the  Arkansas  "  is  entered  at  the  bottom.  In  the 
latter,  the  grandeur  is  all  above  the  traveller  ;  in  the  former,  it  is  all 
below  him. 

Just  west  of  Toltec  Gorge,  near  the  track,  is  a  monument,  erected 
to  the  memory  of  the  martyred  President  Garfield,  bearing  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  :  — 

In  Memoriam. 


JAMES     ABRAM     GARFIELD, 

President  of  the  United  States.         Died  September  fq,  j$Sj. 

MOURNED      BY     ALL     THE     PEOPLE. 

Erected  by  Members  of  the  National  Association  of  General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agents, 
who  held  Memorial  Burial  Services  on  this  spot, 

SEPTEMBER  26,  1881. 

September  26  was  the  day  on  which  President  Garfield  was  buried 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio  ;  and  this  excursion  party  stopped  here  for  servi- 
ces, and  there  conceived  the  idea  of 
erecting  a  monument  upon  the  spot. 

Between  Toltec  Gorge  and  Du- 
rango  the  scenery  is  remarkably 
diversified.  The  beautiful  and  sub- 
lime mingle  as  colors  in  a  fine  paint- 
ing. Where  the  railway  rounds 
"White  Rock  Point,"  the  view  is 
scarcely  less  impressive  than  that 
at  the  entrance  of  Toltec  Gorge. 

In  this  locality  we  had  the  first 
glimpse  of  "  Dogtown,"  a  city  of 
prairie-dogs.  Who  has  not  heard 
of  them !  And  yet,  in  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  and  New  Mexico,  we 
caught  a  glimpse  of  only  here  and 
there  one  of  these  historic  creat- 
ures. But  in  southwestern  Colo- 


On  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway 


GARFIELD  MONUMENT. 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE. 


309 


rado  we  came  upon  the  famous  town,  —  a  locality  that  swarmed  with 
these  lively  and  somewhat  eccentric  inhabitants. 

The  full-grown  prairie-dog  is  about  the  size  of  a  gray  squirrel, 
though  a  multitude  of  smaller  ones  inhabit  the  town,  which  resembles 
a  potato-field  —  the  hills  minus  the  potato-tops.  He  is  a  timid,  wild 
little  creature,  and  scampers  to  his  home  on  the  approach  of  humans, 
with  a  shrill,  sharp  bark,  resembling  that  of  a  small  dog.  Dogtown 
is  interesting  because  it  is  novel.  It  speaks  well  for  this  race  of 
diminutive  dogs  that  they  dwell  together  in  cities  like  men.  Nor  is 


it  at  all  discreditable  to  them  that  they  run  for  dear  life  on  the  approach 
of  a  locomotive  ;  so  that,  as  another  well  says,  "  the  town  appears 
alive  with  projecting  noses  and  disappearing  tails."  Here  and  there 
some,  more  experienced  and  bolder  than  the  rest,  —  perhaps  the  offi- 
cials of  the  city,  —  sit  upon  their  holes,  elevated  like  potato-hills,  and 
bark  defiantly.  Dogtown  is  certainly  one  of  the  marvels  of  the  West. 
A  beaver  town  is,  in  some  respects,  more  interesting  than  a  prairie- 
dog  town.  Beavers  colonize  and  establish  homes  with  singular  inge- 
nuity and  perseverance.  Forty  years  ago,  when  trapping  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  was  in  its  prime,  the  beaver  population  was  im- 
mense. They  were  able  to  dam  large  rivers,  and  even  to  turn  the 


310  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

course  of  rivers.  Groves  of  trees  they  gnaw  down  and  cut  up  into 
logs  of  suitable  length  for  building  dams.  "  They  work  like  beavers  " 
is  a  phrase  suggested  by  the  industry  and  persistent  labors  of  this 
little  animal.  Trappers  and  tourists  frequently  discover  their  dams 
now,  long  since  built  and  deserted.  William  A.  Baillie-Grohman, 
the  English  author,  who  has  traversed  the  Rockies  from  base  to  top, 
describes  a  scene  in  the  Wind  River  Mountains.  "  The  pools  had 


BEAVERTOWN. 


evidently  once  been  one  single  lake  ;  but  the  beaver,  by  ingenious 
dikes,  had  divided  it  into  six  or  seven  smaller  sheets  of  water,  lying 
tier-like,  one  slightly  raised  over  the  other.  The  nearest  to  the 
spring,  the  water  was  of  course  the  highest,  about  eight  or  ten  feet 
being  the  difference  between  its  water  level  and  that  of  the  lowest ; 
miniature  cascades  and  channel-like  timber  floats,  connecting  the  dif- 
ferent lakelets.  These  channels  for  timber  are  very  ingeniously  laid- 
out  contrivances,  from  three  to  five  feet  in  width,  and  from  two  to 
four  feet  in  depth  ;  they  are  intended  for  floating  larger  pieces  of 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  311 

wood  from  place  to  place,  especially  where  the  previously  constructed 
dikes  render  the  transportation  of  trunks  a  difficult  or  impossible  job 
for  the  little  workers."  » 

"  Beavers  have  left  far  more  lasting  and  useful  monuments  of  their 
laborious  activity  on  the  surface  of  the  country  than  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants.  Whole  valleys  are  fertilized  by  them,  the  process  being 
much  quicker  than  one  might  suppose.  Tersely  rendered  it  is  as 
follows  :  Given  a  stream  traversing  a  small  valley  with  rocky  ground 


CANON  OF  THE  RIO  LAS  ANIMAS. 


on  which  grow  only  occasional  cottonwoods  ;  a  colony  of  beaver  on 
taking  possession  of  it  will  soon  make  it  into  meadow  land.  The 
grove  of  trees  farthest  down  the  stream  is  first  tackled.  When 
autumn  comes,  few  of  them  are  left  to  rear  their  heads.  They  have 
been  gnawed  down,  their  trunks  cut  into  logs,  which  form  the  foun- 
dation of  an  amazingly  strong  and  massive  dam  stretched  across  the 
stream  where  it  is  narrowest,  forming  on  the  upper  side  a  profound 


312  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

pool  as  deep  as  the  dam  is  high.  If  the  supply  of  wood  lasts,  con- 
secutive dams  will  be  built  up  stream,  from  thirty  to  a  hundred  yards 
apart,  so  that  finally,  in  the  course  of  twenty  or  thirty  years,  there 
will  be  no  running  water  left.  I  have  passed  many  such  streams, 
when  for  miles  you  will  pass  beaver  dam  upon  beaver  dam."  He 
speaks  of  beaver  dams  "forty  and  fifty  yards  in  length,  seven  feet 
high,  and  four  feet  in  breadth  at  the  base,  —  massive  structures  won- 
derfully planned  and  built." 

Animas  Cafton  is  picturesque  and  remarkably  diversified  with  cliffs, 
forest,  and  cascades.  The  cut  gives  a  view  of  the  canon  where  the 
railway  enters  it,  with  a  beautiful  waterfall  opposite.  The  railway 
enters  the  cafton  midway  between  the  valley  and  summit  of  the 
mountain,  thereby  differing  from  the  Arkansas  and  Toltec  canons, 
the  railway  entering  the  former  at  the  bottom,  and  the  latter  at  the 
top.  Some  of  the  most  difficult  railway  engineering  is  seen  in  this 
canon,  which  is  entered  sixteen  miles  from  Durango,  and  extends 
nearly  thirty  miles.  The  track  is  hewn  out  of  the  rocky  sides  of  the 
mountain,  winding  around  jagged  cliffs,  hundreds  of  feet  above  the 
valley  below,  and  hundreds  from  the  summit  above.  Here  the  gran- 
deur is  both  above  and  beneath  the  traveller. 

As  the  train  was  crawling  very  cautiously  along  this  narrow  shelf 
in  the  mountain,  where  the  descent  was  so  precipitous  that  passen- 
gers had  to  lean  forward  from  the  windows  to  see  the  edge  of  the 
track  beneath  the  cars,  every  one  maintaining  a  serious  silence  which 
seemed  to  result  from  a  just  appreciation  of  "  the  risky  business,"  we 
said  to  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament,  who  was  a  passenger, 
"  Any  remarks  to  offer  ? "  Without  relaxing  the  serious  features  of 
his  face  in  the  least,  he  replied,  "None  whatever."  This  gentleman 
informed  me  afterwards,  that  he  had  seen  the  greatest  railroad  engi- 
neering in  Europe,  and  travelled  by  rail  through  the  wildest  and 
grandest  mountain  gorges,  but  nowhere  had  beheld  more  of  the  mar- 
vellous in  art  and  nature  than  he  saw  in  Animas  Canon.  For  some 
distance  this  railway  cost  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars 
a  mile. 

The  grandest  view  of  the  mountains  in  Animas  Caflon  is  where 
the  "  Needles  "  shoot  upwards  towards  the  sky,  as  strikingly  appears 
in  the  cut.  It  is  not  unlike  similar  scenes  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
except  that  the  figure  is  clear-cut  and  peculiar. 

Black  Hawk  and  Central  —  two  mining  towns  in  Clear  Creek 
Caflon  —  are  only  one  mile  apart ;  indeed,  the  two  towns  merge  into 
each  other.  The  climb  of  a  single  mile  to  Central  is  accomplished 


MAR  I/ ELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  3^3 

by  a  "  switch-back,"  making  four  miles  of  track  necessary.     A  ride 
over  it  is  so  novel  that  it  becomes  sensational.    "  At  one  place,  streets 


On  Line  of  D.  &  R.  G.  Railway. 

ANIMAS  CANON  AND  NEEDLES. 


are  crossed  above  the  level  of  the  house-tops,  and  at  another,  after 
circling  the  mountain  sides  for  two  miles,  the  train  makes  its  appear- 


314 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 


ance  hugging  the  mountain  side  hundreds  of  feet  above,  and  almost 
directly  over  the  town.  One  can  almost  look  down  into  the  fiery 
chimneys  of  the  great  smelters,  while  streets  rise  above,  and  seem- 
ingly bottomless  shafts  and  excavations  yawn  beneath  in  this  thrill- 


ing ride  among  the  gold  mines."  A  good  idea  of  the  zigzags,  curves, 
and  remarkable  ascent  of  the  railway  between  the  two  towns  in  ques- 
tion may  be  derived  from  the  illustration. 

The  editor  of  The   New   West  wrote  a  very  graphic  description 
of  the  Loop  above  Georgetown,  which  we  copy :  — 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


315 


"  Formerly  those  who  had  journeyed  this  far  were  content,  and 
never  dreamed  that  anything  could  excel  what  they  had  seen.  If  the 
unaided  imagination  were  to  conjure  up  something  more  noteworthy, 
it  would  likely  be  disbelieved  by  the  sober  judgment.  But  in  reality 
Georgetown  is  passed  before  an  inkling  of  the  real  glories  of  the  trip 
is  discovered.  This  part  must  be  seen.  The  mind  may  understand 
readily,  a  train  winding  through  a  chasm.  It  is  less  easy  to  under- 
stand how  it  begins  to  rise,  rise,  rise  along  the  side  till  finally  you 
look  down  upon  a  town  in  miniature.  This  is  the  way  the  train 
proceeds.  Through  the  suburbs  of  Georgetown,  it  worms  its  way  up 
a  steep  grade,  curved 
and  blasted  through  the 
rock.  It  crosses  the 
road  leading  to  Green 
Lake,  which  every  tour- 
ist must  traverse  before 
leaving  Colorado,  and 
skirts  the  side  of  moun- 
tains which  lose  their 
crests  in  snow.  In  the 
valley  flows  the  little 
stream  of  Clear  Creek. 
Past  Devil's  Gate  and 
Bridal  Veil  Falls,  curves 
and  climbs  the  engine. 
Looking  directly  above, 
you,  you  perceive  a  rail- 
road track  on  a  high 
iron  bridge  crossing  the 
one  you  are  following 
almost  at  right  angles,  but  in  the  form  of  a  crescent.  You  wonder 
what  road  that  is  above,  and  how  it  got  there.  For  a  little  way  the 
track  is  comparatively  straight,  then  it  veers  to  the  right,  crosses  the 
creek  and  starts  down  the  valley,  but  still  up  grade.  For  perhaps  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  this  continues.  Then  the  creek  is  crossed  again  on 
a  high  iron  bridge.  Looking  directly  down  you  perceive  a  track  be- 
low you.  You  wonder  what  track  it  is,  and  how  it  got  there.  Look 
again.  It  is  your  own  track.  You  are  on  the  bridge  up  to  which  you 
were  looking  a  moment  ago.  You  have  ridden  over  an  immense  loop, 
one  of  four  in  existence.  There  is  one  on  the  Southern  Pacific,  one  in 
Switzerland,  and  one  in  the  Andes  of  South  America.  But  this  one 


THE  LOOP. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


is  more  complex  than  any  of  the  others,  the  strangest  feat  the  most 
skilful  engineer  ever  accomplished. 

"The  wonderful  bridge  is  three  hundred  feet  long  and  eighty- 
six  feet  high.  From  it  Georgetown  may  be  seen  one  way,  nestled  in 
its  mountains,  and  the  other  way  there  is  a  confusion  of  tracks.  It 
is  a  remarkable  climb  from  the  bridge  over  a  fill  seventy-six  feet 
high  on  too  sharp  a  curve  to  admit  of  a  bridge.  There  comes  near 


CROSSING  THE  RATON  MOUNTAINS. 

being  a  duplication  of  the  loop.  From  here  Georgetown  is  still  in 
sight  beyond  the  three  parallel  tracks  necessitated  by  the  loop. 
Looking  down  from  the  final  curve  shown  in  the  cut,  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  that  the  display  is  a  puzzle.  There  is  a  wealth  of  track,  but 
it  dodges  hither  and  thither,  no  portion  seemingly  having  any  special 
relation  to  its  neighbor.  Occasionally  the  entire  trackage  comes  in 
range  at  once.  Then  Silver  Plume  is  reached,  and  the  return  trip 
begins. 

"  The  distance  from  Georgetown  to  Silver  Plume,  in  an  air-line, 


MARYELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  317 

is  a  little  over  a  mile ;  by  wagon  road,  two  miles  ;  by  rail,  four  and  a 
half  miles.  It  is  easily  perceived  that  the  extra  distance  is  the  only 
method  of  conquering  the  grade.  Iron  is  not  laid  for  pastime  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  cost  of  this  bit  of  eccentricity  in  railroading 
was  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  cost  of  building  clear  to 
Bakerville,  eight  and  a  half  miles,  from  Georgetown  was  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars.  What  the  ultimate  destiny  of 
the  road  may  be  is  a  question.  If  extended  to  Leadville,  it  w.ould 
shorten  the  distance  between  that  place  and  Denver  to  one  hundred 
and  twelve  miles.  By  the  South  Park,  now  far  the  shortest  line,  it  is 
one  hundred  and  fifty.  But  whatever  it  may  be,  and  may  do,  it  has 
certainly  given  to  the  tourist  opportunity  never  before  offered  to 
inspect  the  wonders  of  nature  and  mechanical  science." 

We  described  the  "  switch-back,"  by  which  the  cars  are  able  to 
ascend  from  Black  Hawk  to  Central.  On  a  grander  scale,  the  same 
device  carried  the  train,  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Rail- 
road, over  the  Raton  Mountains  —  a  spur  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
—  into  New  Mexico. 

It  is-  fifteen  miles  from  Trinidad  to  the  summit  of  the  pass,  and 
an  average  rise  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet  to  the  mile  is 
required.  If  this  rise  were  equally  distributed,  it  would  not  be  exces- 
sive ;  but  it  is1  not.  In  some  places  the  railway  must  ascend  nearly 
two  hundred  feet  to  the  mile ;  and,  on  the  home-stretch,  the  rise  is 
over  three  hundred  feet  to  the  mile,  and  at  first  was  accomplished 
by  a  switch-back.  "  By  it  the  cars  left  what  is  now  the  direct  line, 
and  were  carried  over  a  steep  incline  track,  running  diagonally  up  the 
hill  ;  thence,  reversing  their  direction,  they  shot  up  another  incline ; 
then  reversing  again,  they  climbed  to  the  summit,  thus  zigzagging 
up  the  steep  they  could  not  directly  scale.  Even  by  this  indirect 
route,  the  enormous  grade  of  316.8  feet  per  mile  was  attained."  On 
the  New  Mexico  side,  the  railway  descended,  in  like  manner,  to  a 
point  where  a  tunnel,  two  thousand  and  eleven  feet  long,  has  been 
excavated,  thus  superseding  the  use  of  the  switch-back,  and  shorten- 
ing the  line  by  several  miles.  The  cut  opposite  furnishes  a  correct 
view  of  the  railroad  over  the  mountain. 

There  is  another  very  remarkable  loop  in  the  Tehachapi  Pass, 
California.  The  next  illustration  shows  the  course  of  the  railway  to 
the  summit  of  the  pass,  together  with  the  loop.  Within  twenty- 
five  miles,  the  train  rises  nearly  three  thousand  feet, — the  altitude 
at  the  pass  being  three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet,  — 
passing  through  SEVENTEEN  tunnels,  the  aggregate  length  of  which 


3l8  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

is  7,683.9  feet.     The  tourist  is  well  paid  by  this  wonder  for  his  long- 
est trip. 

The  loop  is  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five  feet 
in  length,  the  upper  track  being  seventy-eight  feet  higher  than  the 
lower  track.  The  engineering  skill  displayed  in  the  construction  of 
this  road  will  amply  reward  the  tourist  for  his  journey  across  the 
continent  to  see  it.  The  scenery  along  the  route  is  indescribably 
grand.  Sometimes  the  train  poises  upon  a  dizzy  height,  from  which 
the  traveller  looks  down  into  frightful  chasms  that  make  him 


THE  LOOP,  TEHACHAPI   PASS. 

shudder.  The  loop  is  three  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  San 
Francisco. 

After  passing  through  the  ninth  tunnel,  the  track  makes  a  grace- 
ful curve  around  the  loop,  and  crosses  it,  at  a  distance  above,  as 
represented  by  the  following  cut.  Let  the  reader  take  in,  if  possible, 
the  engineering  feat  which  the  illustration  correctly  represents. 
There  is  the  ninth  tunnel,  and  the  railroad  train  crossing  both  tun- 
nel and  loop  far  above  it.  Surely,  here  is  a  marvel  of  American 
enterprise ! 

In  descending  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  from  Summit  to 
Colfax,  the  Union  Pacific  train  winds  around  many  precipitous  cliffs, 
affording  the  traveller  a  favorable  opportunity  to  look  down  into  many 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


319 


frightful  chasms.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  cliffs  is  represented 
by  the  cut  (p.  320)  called  "  Cape  Horn."  There  is  the  train  rounding 
it,  at  a  height  well  calculated  to  excite  alarm, — the  last  place  a  rail- 
way train  would  have  been  placed,  even  in  the  dreams  of  an  enthu- 
siast, twenty  years  ago.  Some  travellers  claim  that  the  grandest  and 
most  exciting  railway  ride  in  the  whole  world  is  this  from  Summit  to 
Colfax.  No  language  can  describe  the  scenery.  Timid  souls  shrink 
and  tremble,  possibly,  whirling  around  perilous  curves,  and  rushing 
forward  on  the  edge  of  awful  precipices.  But  the  experience  pays. 


OVER  TUNNEL  AND  LOOP. 

The  memory  of  the  ride  will  be  reckoned  as  an  income  during  the 
remainder  of  life. 

Marvellous  railway  engineering,  on  the  Sierra  Nevada  range,  is 
seen  in  the  American  River  Canon,  as  represented  by  the  cut  on  p.  321. 

The  grade  of  this  road  for  seven  miles  is  six  hundred  feet  to  the 
mile  —  too  steep,  of  course,  to  be  operated  by  steam  ;  so  it  was  built 
to  be  operated  by  mules.  Some  of  its  curves  are  thirty  degrees. 
The  whole  of  its  work  is  the  triumph  of  enterprise  over  stupendous 
obstacles. 


320 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  Calumet  Branch  Railway  of  the  Leadville  division  of  the  Rio 
Grande  is  a  marvellous  affair,  and  the  reader  will  be  interested  in 


ROUNDING  CAPE  HORN. 


the  following  description  of  it,  by  one  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with 
minutest  details.     He  says  :  — 

"  Nobody  has  ever  well  described  the  wonderful  little  feeder  of  the 
Leadville  division  which  modestly  leaves  the  main  line  in  Brown's 
Cafion,  and  ascends  the  mountain  gulches  to  the  east  with  the  steep- 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE. 


321 


est  grades  and  the  heaviest  curves  in  the  world  that  are  overcome 
with  the  ordinary  drive-wheel  locomotive.  Afar  up  in  this  range  of 
mountains,  seven  miles  away,  and  nearly  three  thousand  feet  higher 
than  the  bed  of  the  canon,  is  the  famous  Calumet  mine,  from  which 
is  extracted  the  hematite  iron  ore  that  keeps  in  blast  the  furnaces  of 
the  Bessemer  works  at  Pueblo.  Every  morning  of  the  year  a  pon- 
derous locomotive  and  a  small  train  of  cars  toils  up  this  steep,  and 
every  afternoon  they  make  the  perilous  descent  to  the  valley,  loaded 


AMERICAN  RIVER  CANON. 

with  iron,  with  the  steam  brakes  on  the  cars,  the  water  pressure  on 
the  locomotive  drivers,  and  a  man  standing  at  the  brake-wheel  of 
each  car. 

"  This  is  the  most  wonderful  piece  of  railroading  in  the  universe. 
The  maximum  grade  is  four  hundred  and  six  feet  to  a  mile,  or  nearly 
eight  per  cent,  and  the  maximum  curvature,  twenty-five  degrees. 
The  terminal  of  the  branch  is  half  a  mile  higher  than  the  commence- 
ment. Imagine,  then,  the  difficulty  in  ascending  with  empty  cars, 
and  the  danger  of  descending  with  loaded  ones.  Still,  strange  though 


32?  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

it  may  seem,  a  locomotive  cannot  make  the  descent  unless  at  least 
five  cars  are  attached.  The  latter  are  essential  to  provide  the  resist- 
ing power  for  the  steam  brakes.  The  trip  up  is  snalish  ;  the  return 
is  rapid  in  spite  of  the  steam  pressure  which  cuts  the  car-wheels  into 
sparks  that  fly  out  in  a  constant  stream  from  the  brakes,  in  spite  of 
the  reverse  action,  in  spite  of  the  -lavish  use  of  the  sand-pipes,  and  in 
spite  of  the  water  brake  on  the  locomotive  drive-wheels. 

"  Some  few  years  ago,  when  the  operation  of  the  line  was  com menced, 
runaway  accidents  were  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  The  seven  miles 
were  within  a  brief  period  strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  cars  and  loco- 
motives and  iron  ore.  The  most  discouraging  results  attended  the 
persistent  efforts  to  make  the  line  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
constructed.  Day  after  day  control  over  the  descending  train  would 
be  lost ;  some  defect  would  interfere  with  the  working  of  the  steam 
brake  ;  and  even  with  the  brake  in  successful  operation,  the  train 
would  take  a  crazy  notion  and  go  flying  down  the  mountain  sides, 
along  the  brinks  of  fearful  precipices,  through  the  rock-bound  gullies, 
and  around  the  acute  curves  like  a  bolt  of  lightning.  The  train  hands 
would  leap  for  life,  and  the  locomotive  and  cars  would  be  dashed  into 
fragments.  In  all  these  accidents,  however,  nobody  was  hurt.  Thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  rolling  stock  is  said  to  have 
been  destroyed  before  a  successful  system  of  operation  was  estab- 
lished. Only  very  few  of  the  higher  officials  of  the  Rio  Grande  real- 
ize how  terrible  was  the  experience  of  these  rides,  and  it  is  told  of 
two  of  them  who  once  summed  up  sufficient  curiosity  and  courage 
to  make  the  journey  that  they  were  so  frightened  that  they  hung  on 
to  the  steps  of  the  caboose,  expecting  every  moment  to  have  to  leap 
for  life. 

"  Finally,  extremely  heavy  locomotives  were  built,  and  a  force  of 
exceptionally  brave  trainmen  were  secured.  The  latter  were  in- 
structed to  cling  to  their  post  at  every  hazard,  and  to  never  flinch  in 
the  moment  of  danger.  Not  a  serious  accident  has  been  recorded 
since.  Starting  from  the  mine,  every  brake  is  manned,  so  that  in 
case  the  steam  should  fail,  the  train  could  be  checked.  While  there 
have  been  several  runaways,  in  two  years  there  has  not  been  a  wreck. 
The  sight  of  one  of  these  trains  descending  is  one  of  thrilling  interest, 
the  sparks  from  the  car-wheels  cutting  a  pathway  of  light  down 
the  mountains,  which  can  best  be  described  as  having  the  appearance 
of  a  molten  stream  of  fire  rolling  down  to  the  river-bed  of  the 
caflon.. 

"  In  Switzerland  there  are  grades  as  steep  as  these  of  the  Calumet 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


323 


Branch,  but  they  are  equipped  for  operation  with  the  cable  and  cog- 
wheels." 

The  leading  railway  companies  in  the  New  West  support  hospitals 
for  their  employees.  The  cut  below  represents  the  Central  Pacific 
Railroad  Hospital  at  Sacramento.  It  is  a  fine  stone  building,  occu- 
pying an  open  square,  and  was  erected  at  an  expense  of  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars.  Here  the  sick  or  injured  employee  finds  a  pleasant 
home,  with  the  best  of  care,  until  he  is  restored,  and  is  able  to  return 
to  work.  The  physician  who  has  this  hospital  in  charge  stands  at 
the  head  of  'his  profession  in  Sacramento,  and  he  is  provided  with  the 


CENTRAL  PACIFIC  RAILROAD  HOSPITAL. 


best  of  nurses,  and  other  facilities  to  make  a  first-class  hospital.  A 
monthly  assessment  of  fifty  cents  each,  f rom  ^officers  and  men,  begin- 
ning with  the  president  of  the  company,  pays  the  current  expenses 
of  the  institution.  This  wise  provision  for  the  sick  and  suffering  is 
very  popular  with  the  men  and  their  families.  To  them  it  is  a  pledge 
of  help  in  the  time  of  need. 

It  is  common,  also,  for  the  railroad  companies  of  the  New  West 
to  provide  reading-rooms  for  their  employees.  We  have  been  fur- 
nished with  the  following  account  of  what  the  Atchison,  Topeka  & 
Sante  Fe  Railroad  has  done  in  this  line  :  — 

"The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Sante  Fe  Railroad  Company  has  es- 


324  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

tablished  a  rather  extensive  system  of  reading-rooms  for  the  benefit 
of  their  employees  throughout  Kansas  and  New  Mexico.  The  rooms 
are  comfortably  furnished,  heated,  lighted,  and  kept  neat  and  clean 
by  the  company.  The  company  provides  all  the  better  periodicals 
of  the  day,  games,  and  mechanical  reference  books.  It,  however, 
depends  upon  voluntary  contributions  of  the  citizens  where  these 
rooms  are  located  to  supply  a  library.  There  are  fifteen  of  them 
located  at  the  various  division  points.  At  Argentine,  New  Mexico, 
quite  a  number  of  handsome  volumes  have  been  generously  donated 
by  private  citizens.  At  Emporia,  Kan.,  the  citizens  have  come  for- 
ward promptly,  and  a  New  York  gentleman  has  donated  one  hundred 
volumes  to  that  reading-room.  Topeka  also  has  one.  At  Nickerson, 
Kan.,  the  people  have  responded  very  generously,  as  also  at  Dodge 
City  and  Raton,  Kan.,  while  at  Las  Vegas  a  very  fine  collection  of 
books  has  been  presented  by  the  citizens.  At  San  Marcial  a  collec- 
tion of  about  two  hundred  volumes  of  the  best  standard  literature 
has  been  presented  by  the  Hon.  E.  W.  Kinsley,  of  Boston." 

Railroading  in  the  New  West  makes  mammoth  bridges  a  neces- 
sity. The  bridge  over  the  Missouri  River,  at  Omaha,  is  a  great 
work,  both  in  conception  and  execution.  It  is  one  mile  in  length 
including  its  approaches.  It  is  "Post's  Pattern."  "The  hollow  iron 
columns  are  twenty-two  in  number,  two  forming  a  pier.  These 
columns  are  made  of  cast  iron,  one  and  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  eight  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  ten  feet  long,  and  weigh 
eight  tons  each.  They  are  bolted  together  air-tight,  and  sunk  to  the 
bed-rock  of  the  river,  in  one  case,  eighty-two  feet  below  low  water. 
After  these  columns  are  seated  on  the  rock  foundation,  they  are  filled 
up  twenty  feet  with  stone  concrete,  and  from  the  concrete  to  the 
bridge  seat  they  are  filled  with  regular  masonry.  From  high-water 
mark  to  the  bridge  seat  these  columns  measure  fifty  feet.  The  eleven 
spans  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  making  the  iron  part 
between  abutments,  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
These  columns  were  cast  in  Chicago,  and  delivered  in  the  shape  of 
enormous  rings,  ten  feet  in  length.  When  they  were  being  placed 
in  position,  the  workmen  would  take  two  or  more  rings,  join  them 
together,  place  the  column  where  it  was  to  be  sunk,  cover  the  top 
with  an  air-lock,  then  force  the  water  from  the  column  by  pneumatic 
pressure,  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty-five  pounds  per  square  inch. 
The  workmen  descend  the  columns  by  means  of  rope  ladders,  and 
fill  sand-buckets,  which  are  hoisted  through  the  air-lock  by  a  pony- 
engine.  The  sand  is  then  excavated  about  two  feet  below  the  bottom 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


325 


of  the  column,  the  men  come  out  through  the  air-lock,  a  leverage, 
from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  tons,  is  applied,  the  pneumatic 
pressure  is  removed,  and  the  column  sinks,  from  three  inches  to  two 


and  one-half  feet  —  in  one  instance,  the  column  steadily  sank  down 
seventeen  feet.  Whenever  the  column  sinks,  the  sand  fills  in  from 
ten  to  thirty  feet  —  in  one  instance,  forty  feet.  This  has  to  be  exca- 
vated before  another  sinking  of  a  few  inches  can  take  place,  making 
altogether  a  slow  and  tedious  process." 


326  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Congress  authorized  the  building  of  this  bridge,  July  25,  1866, 
but  little  was  done  upon  it  until  March,  1868.  Then  work  com- 
menced in  earnest,  but  was  discontinued  for  some  reason,  after  six- 
teen months.  Again,  in  April,  1870,  the  American  Bridge  Company 
of  Chicago  took  up  the  work  ;  but  it  was  not  carried  to  final  consum- 
mation until  Congress  authorized  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  Feb. 
24,  1871,  to  complete  it,  and  issue  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $2,500,000. 

The  Marent  Gulch  is  in  the  Cariacan  Defile,  on  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,  not  far  from  the  Flathead  Reservation.  The  stream 
flowing  through  it  is  small,  but  the  gulch  is  deep  and  dismal.  The 
bridge  over  it,  represented  by  the  cut  on  page  325,  is  one  of  the  high- 
est in  the  United  States.  It  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet 
high  and  eight  hundred  .and  sixty  long.  It  is  a  Howe  truss  resting 
on  eight  towers. 

Near  by  this  structure  is  another  large  bridge  —  the  O'Keefe 
bridge  —  one  hundred  and  twelve  feet  high  and  one  thousand  feet 
long. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railway  passes  through  Clark's  Fork,  where 
not  even  a  wagon-road  existed  before,  nothing  but  a  perilous  bridle- 
path travelled  by  Indians,  gold-seekers,  and  fur-traders.  Pack-animals 
could  not  travel  over  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  a  day  on  this  trail. 

Clark's  Fork  is  spanned  by  three  mammoth  bridges.  The  first  is 
a  five-span  Howe  truss,  eight  hundred  feet  long,  with  trestle  approach 
of  six  hundred  feet  —  fourteen  hundred  feet  in  all.  Fifty  miles  fur- 
ther up  is  another  Howe  truss  bridge,  of  three  spans,  four  hundred 
and  eighty  feet  long,  and  ninety  feet  above  the  water.  The  third 
bridge  is  situated  seven  miles  above  the  junction  of  the  Flathead  and 
Missoula,  and  is  ten  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  including  approaches. 

Smalley,  in  his  "History  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,"  says  : 
"  In  the  rock-work  Mr.  Hallett  employed  a  method  new  in  railroad 
construction,  which  he  had  first  successfully  used  on  the  Columbia 
River  line.  The  old  way  of  cutting  a  roadbed  along  the  face  of  a  cliff 
was  to  begin  at  the  top,  drill  small  holes  and  blow  off  the  rock,  little 
by  little,  down  to  grade.  Mr.  Hallett  began  at  the  bottom,  a  little 
below  grade,  made  a  number  of  T-shaped  tunnels,  filled  them  with 
great  quantities  of  powder,  and  touched  them  all  off  at  the  same 
moment  by  electricity.  The  effect  was  stupendous,  the  whole  side 
of  the  mountain  wall  being  lifted  up  and  hurled  into  the  river.  Great 
saving  in  time  and  money  was  thus  effected.  A  similar  method  was 
applied  to  through  cuts  by  means  of  perpendicular  shafts  and  lateral 
galleries.  One  cut  twenty-four  feet  deep  by  four  hundred  feet  long 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  327 

was  excavated  by  a  single  blast  of  giant  powder,  most  of  the  rock 
being  thrown  entirely  out,  and  the  rest  so  broken  up  that  it  was 
readily  removed  by  derricks." 

The  same  authority  tells  us  that  the  most  stupendous  land-slide 
known  in  railroad-building  occurred  in  this  vicinity  in  April,  1883. 
"  Forty  acres,  covered  with  trees,  slid  off  into  the  river,  carrying  the 
track  with  it,  and  partially  obstructing  the  river." 

The  magnitude  of  business  and  enterprise  in  the  New  West  also 
creates  the  necessity  for  the  largest  ferry-boat  in  the  whole  world. 
It  is  found  on  the  Straits  of  Carquincy,  in  California,  and  is  run 
by  the  railway  company  to  shorten  the  distance  to  Sacramento. 
The  Straits  are  one  mile  and  a  half  wide. 

Crofutt  describes  this  monster  ferry-boat  as  follows  :  "  The  '  Solano ' 
is  the  same  length  as  the  'City  of  Tokio,'  and  has  the  greatest  length 
of  beam  of  any  vessel  afloat.  Her  dimensions  are  :  length  over  all, 
424  feet ;  length  of  bottom,  —  she  has  no  keel,  —  406  feet ;  height  of 
sides  in  centre,  18  feet  5  inches;  height  of  sides  at  each  end  from 
bottom  of  boat,  15  feet  10  inches;  moulded  beam,  64  feet;  extreme 
width  over  guards,  1 16  feet ;  width  of  guards  at  centre  of  boat,  25 
feet  6  inches ;  reverse  shear  of  deck,  2  feet  6  inches.  She  has  two  verti- 
cal steam  engines  of  6o-inch  bore  and  ii-inch  stroke.  The  engines 
have  a  nominal  horse-power  each,  but  are  capable  of  being  worked  up  to 
2,000  horse-power  each.  The  wheels  are  30  feet  in  diameter,  and  the 
face  of  the  baskets,  17  feet.  There  are  24  baskets  in  each  wheel,  30 
inches  deep.  She  has  eight  steel  boilers,  each  being  of  the  following 
dimensions  :  length  over  all,  28  feet ;  diameter  of  shell,  7  feet ;  143 
tubes,  16  feet  long  by  4  inches  diameter  each  ;  heating  surface,  1,227 
feet ;  grate  surface,  224  feet ;  entire  heating  surface,  9,816  feet ;  entire 
grate  surface,  1,792  feet.  The  boilers  are  made  in  pairs,  with  one 
steam  smoke-stack  to  each  pair,  5  feet  and  6  inches  in  diameter. 
She  has  4  iron  fresh-water  tanks,  each  20  feet  long  and  6  feet  in 
diameter;  registers  483,541.31  tons.  She  is  a  double  ender,  and  at 
each  end  has  four  balance  rudders,  each  1 1  feet  6  inches  long  and  5  feet 
6  inches  in  depth.  They  are  constructed  with  coupling-rods,  and  each 
has  one  king-pin  in  the  centre  for  the  purpose  of  holding  it  in  place. 
The  rudders  are  worked  by  an  hydraulic  steering-gear,  operated  by  an 
independent  steam  pump,  and  responds  almost  instantaneously  to 
the  touch.  The  engines  are  placed  fore  and  aft,  and  operate  entirely 
independent,  each  operating  one  wheel.  This  arrangement  of  the 
engines  and  paddles  makes  the  boat  more  easily  handled  entering 
or  leaving  the  slips,  or  turning  quickly  when  required,  as  one  wheel 


328 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


can  be  made  to  go  ahead  and  the  other  to  reverse  at  the  same  time. 
One  wheel  is  placed  eight  feet  forward,  and  the  other  eight  feet  abaft 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  329 

the  centre  of  the  boat.  It  has  four  tracks  running  from  end  to  end, 
with  the  capacity  of  48  freight,  or  24  passenger  cars.  In  its  construc- 
tion, 1,500,000  feet  of  lumber  were  used.  Many  of  the  timbers  are 
over  100  feet  long;  four,  the  keelsons,  are  117  feet  long,  each 
measuring  4,032  feet." 


PUBLIC   BUILDINGS. 

We  turn  to  other  illustrations  of  the  marvellous  enterprise  of  the 
New  West.  Public  buildings  show  the  public  spirit  of  the  people. 
Their  thrifty  business  and  large  prosperity  appear  through  these. 
They  proclaim  the  purpose,  intelligence,  and  aim  of  those  who  build 
and  pay  for  them. 

When  the  ground  was  broken  for  the  railway  at  Omaha,  the  town 
contained  about  three  thousand  inhabitants.  The  first  "  claim  cabin  " 
was  built  there  in  1854.  A  young  man  said  to  the  author,  in  August, 
1883,  in  Omaha,  "  I  am  twenty-five  years  of  age  this  nuonth,  and  I  was 
one  of  the  first  babies  born  in  this  town,  the  population  of  which  is 
now  sixty  thousand." 

In  1884,  the  city  expended  tivo  million  dollars  in  public  improve- 
ments, and  four  million  in  public  buildings.  The  aggregate  sales,  in 
the  same  time,  amounted  to  twenty-four  million  three  hundred  eiglity- 
two  tlwusand  eight  hundred  ninety-one  dollars,  —  an  increase  of  one 
hundred  and  eighteen  per  cent  in  five  years.  The  city  has  forty 
churches,  fourteen  of  which  were  erected  in  1884,  at  a  cost  of  one 
Iiundrcd  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars.  The  same  year,  also,  ten  school- 
buildings  were  erected,  at  an  expense  of  one  hundred  two  tlwusand 
eigJtt  hundred  eighty  dollars.  There  are  seven  daily  papers  in 
the  city  ;  two  of  them  published  in  the  German  language.  Its  ap- 
propriations for  public  schools  are  generous  and  noble.  It  has  over 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  invested  in  school  property.  In 
addition  to  public,  there  are  several  private  schools,  an  institution  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  a  commercial  college,  Creighton  College,  etc. 

The  first  building  which  the  traveller  sees  on  approaching  Omaha 
is  the  high  school,  a  costly  and  imposing  structure.  It  is  situated 
on  Capitol  Hill,  the  highest  point  of  land  in  the  city,  where  the  old 
state-house  stood.  It  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  feet  long  and 
eighty  feet  wide.  The  main  spire  rises  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
feet  from  the  ground.  It  was  completed  in  1876,  and  cost  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  It  was  but  ten  years  after  breaking 


330 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


HIGH  SCHOOL  BUILDING,  OMAHA. 

ground  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  that  this  structure  was  reared. 
The  State  Capitol  was  first  located  here,  but  was  removed  to  Lincoln, 
in  1868. 

Such  a  noble  structure  for  the  education  of  the  young  tells  its 
own  story.     The  community  which  demands  such  a  building,  at  a 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


331 


time  when  enormous  taxes  are  levied  upon  its  property,  must  set  a 
high  value  upon  education.  This  edifice  is  a  standing  monument  to 
the  praise  and  honor  of  the  people,  as  well  as  proof  of  their  enter- 
prise and  generosity. 

The    court-house    covers  an  area  of    1 1 2  x  1 30   feet,  exclusive  of 
approaches   and   the  grand  staircase,  on  the  Farnum   Street  front. 


COURT-HOUSE. 

The  height  of  the  building,  from  base  to  the  statue  over  the  dome,  is 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  It  is  built  of  stone  from  the  Berea  sand- 
stone quarries  of  Ohio,  at  a  cost  of  $350,000.  It  is  fire-proof.  It  is 
provided  with  all  the  appointments  of  a  first-class  court-house  in 
the  East. 

It  is  a  wise  policy  which  erects  a  permanent  public  building  for  the 
future  as  well  as  the  present.     Fifty  years  from  now,  and  more,  this 


332  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

court-house  will  meet  the  wants  of  the  public  service,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  continue  to  be  an  ornament  to  the  city.  Instead  of 
grumbling  at  the  large  cost  of  the  structure,  posterity  will  honor  the 
memory  of  the  builders  all  the  more  ;  for  it  furnishes  proof  of  their 
earnest  public  spirit  in  the  most  enduring  form. 

Portland  is  one  of  the  most  stirring  and  thriving  cities  on  the  con- 
tinent. Its  population,  including  East  Portland,  is  about  forty  thou- 
sand. It  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Willamette  River, 
twelve  miles  from  its  junction  with  the  Columbia.  In  beauty  of 
location  and  architecture,  it  is  unsurpassed  by  any  Eastern  city. 
The  editor  of  the  West  Shore  furnishes  the  following  interesting 
and  instructive  facts  concerning  its  business  :  — 

"In  1883  employment  was  given  to  5,181  men,  the  product  of 
whose  labor  aggregated  $11,423,000  in  value.  Although  in  1884 
many  forms  of  industry  —  which  had  been  estimated  beyond  their 
normal  limit  by  the  excessive  demand  during  railroad  construction  — 
returned  to  their  natural  condition,  the  value  of  manufactures  was 
nearly  equal  to  that  of  1883.  The  product  was  $11,282,000,  and 
5,269  hands  were  employed.  The  reason  of  this  was  the  founding 
here  of  a  number  of  new  industries,  considerably  diversifying  our 
products.  The  leading  industries  are  as  follows :  furniture,  410 
hands;  lumber  and  wood-working,  620;  foundry  and  iron  work,  520; 
printing  and  publishing,  375  ;  ship  and  boat  building,  255  ;  cloth- 
ing* 35°;  brick-making,  120;  carpentering,  300;  boots  and  shoes, 
150;  carriage  and  wagon  making,  130.  The  product  for  1885  was 
valued  at  $9,911,000,  fully  equal  to  1884,  when  the  shrinkage  in 
values  is  considered.  Salmon-canning  is  one  of  the  leading  indus- 
tries of  Oregon.  The  scene  of  operation  is  the  Columbia  and  As- 
toria, the  headquarters,  where  are  located  a  majority  of  the  facto- 
ries. This  industry  gives  employment  to  1,500  boats,  3,000  fisher- 
men, and  1,000  factory  hands,  and  produces  annually  600,000  cases 
of  salmon,  valued  at  $3,000,000.  The  industry  is  of  great  benefit  to 
Portland  in  many  ways." 

As  a  shipping  port  for  flour  and  grain,  the  same  writer  says,  the 
business  "amounted  in  1885  to  9,217,086  bushels  of  wheat,  and' 
344,811  barrels  of  flour,  equal  to  a  total  of  11,432,265  bushels  of 
wheat.  .  .  .  Not  one  acre  in  twenty  of  Eastern  Washington  is  now 
under  cultivation,  and  the  crop  increases  at  such  a  ratio  from  year  to 
year  that  both  the  C.  R.  &  N.  Co.  and  Northern  Pacific  will  be  taxed  to 
their  utmost  capacity  to  move  it  two  years  hence.  The  quantity  of  wheat 
produced  will  depend  entirely  upon  the  facilities  for  getting  it  to 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


333 


market ;  consequently  the  amount  shipped  from  Portland  will  be  regu- 
lated by  the  transportation  accommodations  furnished.  ...  It  is  but 
reasonable  to  expect  that  within  a  few  years  fifty  million  bushels  of 
wheat  will  be% shipped  from  the  Inland  Empire,  two-thirds  of  which, 
at  least,  will  find  a  market  in  this  city.  .  .  .  The  value  of  wheat  ex- 


HIGH  SCHOOL  BUILDING,   PORTLAND. 

ported  from  this  city  in  1885  was  $4,319,203;  of  flour,  $1,453,324. 
To  carry  this,  including  salmon  exports  of  $2,757,756,  required  121 
large  vessels,  having  a  total  capacity  of  120,963  tons.  .  .  .  Exports 
to  foreign  countries  for  season  of  1884-5  were  $5,857,057.  The  total 
domestic  exports  for  the  same  period  were  $6,699,776,  making  a 
grand  total  of  foreign  and  domestic  exports  of  the  products  of  the 


334  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

region  of  $12,556,833.  This  includes  11,121,433  pounds  of  wool, 
2,106,971  pounds  of  hides,  5,333,207  pounds  of  hops,  and  28,860,600 
pounds  of  potatoes.  The  total  exports  for  the  calendar  .year  1885 
were  $14,280,670." 

Portland  is  distinguished  for  its  fine  public  edifices  and  business 
blocks,  on  which  money  has  not  been  spared  to  make  them  conven- 
ient as  well  as  ornamental.  But  none  of  its  public  buildings  surpass 
the  new  high  school  in  beauty  and  costliness.  It  cost  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  is  finishednvith  all  the  modern  appoint- 
ments of  a  first-class  institution.  The  six  other  school-houses  of  the 
city  are  large  and  elegant,  and  would  be  a  credit  to  any  city  in  the 
land.  "The  school  census  of  1885  showed  6,658  children  between 
the  ages  of  four  and  twenty  residing  in  the  city,  of  which  570  attended 
private  schools.  There  were  registered  in  the  public  schools  3,978, 
the  average  number  belonging  being  3,084,  and  the  average  daily 
attendance  2,971.  Considering  that  many  parents  do  not  send  their 
childen  to  school  until  six  years  of  age,  and  that  a  great  many  are 
compelled  to  leave  school  and  earn  a  livelihood  long  before  they  are 
twenty,  the  above  figures  indicate  that  there  are  few  children  of  proper 
age  not  receiving  the  benefit  of  a  free  education." 

The  city  is  well  supplied  with  newspapers  and  magazines  of  a  high 
order.  The  Orcgonian  and  News  are  morning  dailies  with  weekly 
editions.  The  Standard,  Telegram,  and  Freie  Presse  are  evening 
dailies  —  six  daily  papers  in  all.  There  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
other  periodical  publications,  among  which  is  The  West  Shore,  in- 
ferior to  no  illustrated  monthly  in  the  United  States  for  the  place 
it  is  designed  to  fill.  We  here  and  now  acknowledge  our  great  in- 
debtedness to  its  able  editor  for  a  great  amount  of  information,  as 
well  as  fine  illustrations,  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume. 

Portland,  Oregon,  contains  many  fine  business  blocks,  one  of  which 
is  shown  on  p.  336.  Forty-one  years  ago  the  first  business  house 
of  Portland  was  erected  —  a  small  log  house. 

In  November,  1843,  A.  L.  Lovejoy  and  A.  M.  Overton  located 
claims  on  the  present  site  of  Portland.  In  the  fall  of  1844  Over- 
ton  sold  his  interest  to  F.  M.  Pettygrove  for  $50;  and  during  the 
winter  following  a  small  log  cabin  was  erected.  These  two  men, 
Lovejoy  and  Pettygrove,  had  an  idea  that  the  future  city  of  Ore- 
gon would  be  built  upon  the  site  which  they  had  selected.  So 
in  July,  1845,  they  laid  off  sixteen  blocks  near  the  river,  making 
the  blocks  two  hundred  feet  square,  and  subdividing  them  into  eight 
lots  fifty  by  one  hundred  feet  each.  Now  they  must  name  their 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


335 


336 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


new  town  ;  and  Lovejoy,  who  was  from  Massachusetts,  suggested 
Boston.  Pettygrove  was  from  Maine,  and  he  suggested  Portland. 
They  drew  lots  to  settle  the  question,  and  Pettygrove  won.  Hence 
the  name  Portland.  Before  the  next  winter  fairly  set  in  they  built 
of  hewn  logs  a  modest  little  store. 

Sometime  thereafter  both  Lovejoy  and  Pettygrove  sold  out,  the 
latter  receiving  $5000  for  his  share  for  which  he  paid  Overton  $50. 
Contrasting  this  very  humble  beginning  with  the  present  appearance 
of  the  city,  its  growth  and  thrift  are  truly  marvellous.  The  log  store 


THE  KAMM   BLOCK. 

represents  the  fact  a  little  more  than  forty  years  ago ;  the  other  views 
presented  represent  the  facts  now.  Between  the  two,  what  enter- 
prise, industry,  thought,  labor,  trials,  and  triumphs ! 

The  State  of  Oregon  contains  about  twelve  times  as  many  acres 
as  Massachusetts,  and,  in  many  particulars,  its  future  prospects  are 
twelve  times  as  great.  In  length,  from  east  to  west,  it  is  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles,  and  in  width,  two  hundred  and  eighty  miles, 
embracing  an  area  of  95,247  square  miles,  or,  in  round  numbers,  sixty- 
one  million  acres.  The  business  and  enterprise  of  the  inhabitants 
are  as  large  as  the  State.  Proof  of  this  is  found  in  their  public 
buildings. 

The  State  Capitol  at  Salem  is  worthy  of  any  of  the  oldest  eastern 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


337 


commonwealths.  It  is  a  very  substantial  edifice,  of  ample  propor- 
tions, and  both  beautiful  and  imposing.  The  edifice  not  only  speaks 
for  itself,  but  it  speaks  for  the  State,  whose  people  take  pride  in 
their  ability  to  represent  the  highest  type  of  civilization.  The  editor 
of  the  New  West  says,  "  One  of  the  deepest  rooted  and  most  erro- 
neous impressions  the  East  entertains  of  the  West  is  that  the  towns 
and  cities  are  all  new,  illy  constructed,  poorly  provided  with  the  con- 
veniences for  health,  comfort,  and  the  transaction  of  business,  socially 
and  morally  below  par,  of  a  mushroom  growth,  and  possessing  those 
peculiar  characteristics  which  have  always  been  associated  with  the 


STATE  HOUSE. 


'  frontier.' "  One  purpose  we  have  in  presenting  these  views  of  public 
buildings  to  the  reader  is  to  correct  such  incorrect  and  absurd  ideas 
of  the  West. 

The  insane  asylum  is  located  at  Salem,  the  capital.  It  is  an  ample 
provision  of  the  State  for  a  very  unfortunate  class  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  building  is  large  and  graceful,  supplied  with  everything  neces- 
sary for  the  comfort  and  cure  of  the  insane  —  a  beautiful  expression 
of  the  philanthropic  and  benevolent  spirit  of  the  people. 

Tacoma,  Washington  Territory,  is  the  western  terminus  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  head  of  navigation  on  Puget  Sound, 
and  therefore  a  place  of  much  importance,  especially  since  the  construe- 


338 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


tion  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  In  March,  1885,  the  editor  of 
the  New  West  said  :  "  In  the  vicinity  of  Tacoma,  and  on  several  islands 
contiguous  to  the  mainland,  are  large  areas  of  splendid  potter's  clay. 
A  large  quantity  of  machine-made  brick  are  turned  out  by  nine  differ- 
ent yards.  Of  these,  fully  five  millions  went  into  buildings  in 
Tacoma  last  year,  while  large  quantities  were  sent  to  other  markets. 
.  .  .  Tacoma  is  the  county  seat  and  the  seaport  to  which  all  this 
region  is  tributary.  Not  simply  that,  but  it  is  the  terminus  of  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  point  where  that  great  transcontinental  line 
reaches  the  deep  water  of  the  Pacific.  Here  can  come  the  varied 


INSANE  ASYLUM. 

products  of  the  Inland  Empire  and  the  greater  portion  of  Western 
Washington  for  shipment,  and  from  here  those  same  regions,  soon  to 
be  wealthy  and  populous,  can  draw  their  supplies.  Here,  too,  can 
come  the  commerce  of  Asia  and  the  Pacific  for  transmission  across 
the  continent,  while  to  the  warehouse  here  the  railroad  can  bring  the 
innumerable  articles  sent  from  the  East  to  be  distributed  throughout 
the  northwest  region." 

The  "Tacoma"  is  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  hotels  in  the 
West  north  of  San  Francisco,  a  city  of  magnificent  public  houses.  It 
was  erected  in  1884  by  the  Tacoma  Land  Company  at  an  expense  of 
$200,000,  and  has  already  won  a  reputation  throughout  the  country. 
It  stands  on  an  eminence  above  the  water  front,  affording  the  guests 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


339 


on  the  veranda  such  a  view  of  water,  valley,  and  mountain  as  few 
ever  enjoyed  before.  A  visitor  says  of  this  hotel :  "The  Tacoma,  as 
a  homelike  resort,  is  not  an  illy  constructed  idea  of  its  projectors. 
It  is  from  the  designs  of  a  celebrated  firm  in  New  York  City,  and 
built  under  its  supervision.  It  is  modeled  from  the  domestic  archi- 
tecture of  France  and  Holland  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies. The  main  lines  of  the  building  are  similiar  to  the  same  lines 
in  the  best  of  French  work,  and  the  gables  are  a  reproduction  of  a 
type  found  very  frequently  in  Holland.  The  window  and  door  fram- 
ings and  cornices  are  of  selected  hard-burned  brick,  and  are  attempts 
at  decorating  what  would  otherwise  be  tame  and  flat,  owing  to  the 


THE  TACOMA  HOTEL. 


necessity  of  covering  all  brick  walls  with  cement  in  this,  a  damp  cli- 
mate, where  the  brick  are  very  readily  affected.  The  interior  details 
were  studied  with  a  view  of  making  the  house  attractive  as  a  home, 
warm  and  rich  in  color,  and  with  fine  and  delicate  mouldings. 

"The  guest  here,  as  he  sits  in  the  shade  enjoying  a  temperature 
which  never  rises  higher  than  eighty  degrees  in  the  summer,  is  apt 
to  remember  his  friends  at  the  seashore  in  the  East,  or  at  the  interior 
mountain  resorts,  and  pity  them." 

Some  of  the  finest  business  blocks  north  of  San  Francisco  are 
found  here.  The  original  wooden  buildings  are  being  rapidly  re- 


340  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

moved,  and  substantial  brick  ones  take  their  places.  In  the  city 
there  are  "  336  distinct  establishments  or  offices  of  professional  men. 
These  are  classified  alphabetically  as  follows :  architects,  4 ;  auction 
houses,  2  ;  attorneys,  38  ;  bakeries,  4 ;  banks,  3  ;  brick-yards,  3  ;  boots 
and  shoes,  4;  blacksmiths,  5  ;  barbers,  10;  bath-rooms,  3  ;  builders,  7  ; 
clothing  and  gents'  furnishing,  3  ;  car  and  machine  shops,  2  ;  cigar 
stores,  13;  Chinese  stores,  7;  Chinese  laundries,  21;  doctors,  24; 
dairies,  4 ;  dry  goods,  7  ;  dentists,  2  ;  engineers  and  surveyors,  9 ; 
express  offices,  2;  flouring  mill,  i;  furniture  dealers,  4;  fruit  and 
provisions,  4 ;  fish,  2  ;  flour  and  feed,  4 ;  foundry,  I ;  galvanized  iron 
works,  i  ;  general  merchandise,  2  ;  groceries,  16 ;  harness  makers,  2  ; 
hotels,  15;  hardware,  3;  insurance  and  real  estate,  26;  jewellers,  7; 
livery  stables,  3;  lock  and  gunsmiths,  2;  millinery  stores,  4;  meat 
markets,  7 ;  musical  instruments,  3  ;  marble  works,  i  ;  mining  ex- 
perts, 2  ;  photographers,  2  ;  paints,  oils,  and  wall  paper,  2  ;  plumbers 
and  gas-fitters,  3  ;  painters,  3  ;  queen's-ware,  wood,  and  willow  ware,  3  ; 
restaurants,  8 ;  saloons,  25  ;  saw  and  shingle  mills,  7 ;  sash  and  door 
factories  and  planing  mills,  5  ;  salmon  cannery,  i  ;  stationery  stores,  4  ; 
stoves  and  tinware,  3  ;  skating  rinks,  2  ;  ship  carpenters  and  boat- 
builders,  4 ;  sewing  machine  agents,  3  ;  ship  chandlers,  i  ;  tailors,  4 ; 
toy  stores,  i  ;  tub  and  pail  factory,  i  ;  telegraph  offices,  3  ;  under- 
takers, i  ;  wheelwrights,  2  ;  wagon  warerooms,  i." 

The  St.  Luke  Memorial  Church  is  a  very  fine  edifice,  built  of 
stone,  at  an  expense  of  $30,000.  It  was  a  present  to  the  Episcopal 
Society  from  C.  B.  Wright,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  formerly  president 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  His  daughter,  learning  of  the 
struggles  of  the  society  to  secure  a  place  of  worship,  resolved  to  lay 
aside  money  enough  from  her  own  funds  to  purchase  a  bell  for  them. 
Before  her  purpose  was  accomplished,  she  sickened  and  died.  One 
of  her  last  requests  was,  that  her  father  should  see  that  the  bell  was 
supplied.  The  father  responded  by  this  magnificent  present.  A  large 
memorial  window  occupies  nearly  the  entire  width  of  the  front  of  the 
building.  This  is  in  memory  of  the  deceased  daughter.  A  marble 
slab,  suitably  inscribed,  is  sunk  in  one  of  the  walls  to  the  right  of  the 
chancel,  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Wright. 

Mr.  Wright  also  endowed  the  "  Annie  Wright  Seminary  "  by  the 
gift  of  FIFTY  THOUSAND  DOLLARS,  in  memory  of  his  accomplished 
daughter.  The  building  was  paid  for  by  subscriptions,  and  cost 
$35,000.  It  is  a  beautiful  structure,  supplied  with  all  the  appli- 
ances of  the  best  academies  in  New  England.  The  inhabitants  of 
Tacoma  are  justly  proud  of  this  institution,  it  is  so  much  in  harmony 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  341 

with  their  intelligent  and  cultivated  taste.  They  greatly  honor  the 
man,  too,  whose  noble  bequests  have  contributed  so  much  to  improve 
and  beautify  their  delightful  town. 

The  citizens  of  Tacoma  have  been  exceedingly  generous  in  provid- 
ing public  schools.  The  Central  School  building  is  more  costly  and 
elegant  than  the  school  buildings  in  New  England  towns  of  the  size 
of  Tacoma.  The  grounds,  building,  and  furniture  cost  $30,000,  which 
speaks  well  for  the  enterprise  and  good  sense  of  a  people  whom  many 
Eastern  dwellers  suppose  live  on  the  verge  of  civilization.  The  rapid 
increase  of  the  population  enlarges  the  field  of  educational  operations 
from  year  to  year,  imposing  heavier  and  heavier  burdens  upon  the 
taxpayers,  who  are  not  given  to  grumbling,  however,  since  they  fully 
believe  that  the  best  invested  property  in  the  city  is  that  which  they 
have  put  into  churches  and  schools. 

The  deep  interest  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  most  distant  parts  of 
the  New  West  in  public  school,  is  manifest  from  such  facts  as  the 
following  from  the  Advance  of  Chicago,  a  few  months  since  :  — 

"  On  one  of  the  thousand  islands  of  Puget  Sound,  in  the  centre  of 
eight  counties  wholly  destitute  of  any  higher  educational  advantages, 
and  having  a  population  of  over  16,000,  is  a  little  community  intensely 
in  earnest  in  this  matter.  The  people  of  this  island  have  recently 
offered  us  a  fine  building,  well  adapted  for  academy  purposes,  and 
twenty  acres  of  land,  provided  we  as  a  denomination  will  raise  an 
endowment  of  $10,000,  with  which  to  start  the  school.  The  money 
with  which  to  purchase  the  building  is  all  subscribed,  and  bond  for  a 
deed  has  been  given.  The  property  is  worth  at  least  $5,000,  and  not 
one  of  the  forty  persons  who  subscribed  for  its  purchase  is  a  Congre- 
gationalist ;  and  yet  they  say  to  us  as  a  denomination,  '  Take  the 
property  and  give  our  children  the  benefit  of  a  good  school,  that  they 
may  not  grow  up  in  ignorance.' ' 

Montana  is  a  newer,  if  not  a  wilder  country,  than  Oregon  and 
Washington  ;  and  its  progress  has  been  unparalleled.  To-day  it  can 
boast  the  most  promising  mining  camp  in  the  world,  — BUTTE  CITY, — 
called  "The  Silver  City,"  because  of  its  rich  and  extensive  silver 
mines.  It  is  claimed  that  Butte  is  in  advance  of  Leadville,  in  several 
particulars,  and  that  the  "  hard  times "  which  have  struck  almost 
every  other  western  town,  have  never  visited  this  booming  place. 
Since  the  completion  of  the  Utah  and  Northern  Railroad,  the  town 
has  advanced  from  a  population  of  five  hundred  to  fifteen  thousand, 
including  its  environs.  The  citizens  have  been  moved  to  true  West- 
ern generosity,  not  to  say  prodigality,  in  providing  everything  which 


342 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


343 


the  business,  educational,  and  moral  interests  of  the  city  require. 
Expensive  water-works,  the  electric  light,  churches,  schools,  three 
daily  newspapers,  with  several  weekly,  telegraph,  telephone,  and  all 
the  etceteras  of  a  thriving  Eastern  city.  Their  large  and  numerous 
business  blocks  and  public  buildings  are  the  best  possible  proof  of 
the  energy,  tact,  and  enterprise,  which  have  reared  this  and  other 
cities,  within  a  few  years,  on  the  frontier.  The  "howling  wilder- 
ness "  is  driven  out  of  Montana. 


COURT-HOUSE. 


It  has  the  appearance  of  a  busy,  bustling  Eastern  city,  though 
having  more  dash.  The  assessment  value  of  its  property  aggregates 
$8,000,000.  It  has  eight  churches,  three  banks,  schoolhouses  that 
cost  $75,000,  gas-works,  and  all  the  other  appointments  of  modern  civ- 
ilization, although  it  is  so  young  and  situated  in  the  wilderness.  The 
editor  of  the  West  Shore  says  :  "  Law  and  order  are  supreme,  life 
and  property  are  secure,  and  there,  as  elsewhere,  he  who  behaves 
himself  will  not  be  molested,  while  he  who  does  not  will  probably 
only  be  interfered  with  by  the  police.  Socially,  Butte  contains  as 
large  a  proportion  of  .educated  and  refined  people  as  any  manufactur- 


344  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

ing  city  in  the  union,  a  statement  to  which  its  many  .fine  churches 
and  schools  bear  ample  witness." 

The  total  bullion  shipment  from  Butte,  in  1885,  amounted  to 
$5,000,000,  and  of  copper  matte,  $10,000,000,  making  a  total  of 
$15,000,000. 

The  cost  of  the  court-house  was  $150,000,  a  necessary  outlay  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  thriving  county.  It  is  a  fitting  monument 
of  the  public  spirit  which  pervades  the  communities  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  They  do  nothing  by  halves.  Their  business  is  conducted  on 
a  grand  scale,  nothing  picayune  about  it.  Here  in  Butte  is  the  largest 
smelter  in  the  whole  world.  It  contains  over  thirty  furnaces,  which 
reduce  one  thousand  tons  of  ore  daily,  producing  one  hundred  and 
fifty  tons  of  copper,  assaying  sixty  per  cent  copper.  The  machinery 
is  run  by  water  power,  though  the  furnaces  consume  over  a  hundred 
cords  of  wood  daily.  The  company  made  one  contract  for  wood 
amounting  to  $1,000,000  —  THREE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  CORDS.  This 
copper  mine,  known  as  the  Anaconda,  is  the  richest  copper  mine  in 
America. 

As  large  a  per  cent  of  the  population  attend  meeting  on  the  Sab- 
bath as  attend  in  a  manufacturing  village  of  New  England.  Their 
neat  and  attractive  houses  of  worship  show  that  the  citizens  place  a 
high  estimate  upon  Christian  institutions.  The  leaders  of  thought 
and  enterprise  appear  to  understand  that  their  employes  need  the 
Sabbath  for  physical  rest  and  recuperation,  as  well  as  for  moral  im- 
provement. Hence,  this  generous  provision  for  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  the  masses. 

Their  public  schools  are  provided  with  modern  improvements, 
and  the  teachers  employed  are  among  the  best  whom  large  pay  can 
secure  from  the  East.  In  thoroughness  of  instruction  and  discipline, 
the  schools  of  Montana,  at  least  in  its  leading  cities,  like  Butte, 
Helena,  Deer  Lodge,  etc.,  are  not  inferior  to  those  of  Massachusetts. 
In  no  part  of  our  country  are  the  people  more  fully  imbued  with  the 
idea  that  permanency  of  government  depends  upon  the  intelligence 
as  well  as  morals  of  the  governed,  than  are  the  inhabitants  of  the 
New  West.  Of  course,  there  is  a  large  class  who  give  no  attention 
to  these  matters,  and  doubtless  undervalue  them  ;  but  we  speak  of 
the  ruling  classes,  who  make  the  West  what  it  is,  and  is  to  be. 

A  writer  says :  "  Helena,  by  reason  of  her  own  valuable  mines, 
and  her  favorable  situation  in  regard  to  other  mining  camps,  became 
the  great  mining  and  commercial  centre  ;  by  accumulation  of  wealth, 
in  the  hands  of  shrewd,  capable,  and  energetic  men  who  knew  how  to 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  345 

use  money  to  conquer  fortune,  she  acquired  complete  financial  suprem- 
acy ;  and  finally,  her  political  influence  and  commanding  situation, 
gave  her  the  seat  of  government  of  the  Territory.  All  of  these  ad- 
vantages she  still  retains,  and  they  will  in  a  few  years,  when  the 
railroad  system  of  Montana  is  more  fully  developed,  give  her  ten 
times  the  population  and  influence  she  has  now,  for  then -Helena 
will  become  the  railroad  centre  of  this  vast  region.  These  are  the 
reasons  why  she  is  the  political,  financial,  and  commercial  capital 
of  Montana,  and  why  she  is  proudly  and  lovingly  called  by  all  her  citi- 
zens, 'The  Queen  of  the  Mountains.' ' 

To  the  general  reader,  Idaho  seems  to  belong  to  the  outside  world 
far  more  than  Montana.  Nevertheless,  it  is  one  of  the  fair,  bright 
spots  of  the  New  West,  which  modern  civilization  is  rapidly  trans- 
forming into  a  country  worthy  of  its  beautiful  name.  From  a  histor- 
ical statement  prepared  for  the  New  Orleans  Exposition  by  the 
Territorial  Comptroller,  we  extract  the  following  account  of  the  ori- 
gin of  its  name,  which  will  be  read  with  interest :  — 

"  Idaho  is  generally  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  an  Indian  word 
meaning  '  Gem  of  the  Mountains.'  This,  however,  is  disputed.  The 
poet  Joaquin  Miller,  writes  as  follows  on  the  subject  :  — 

"  '  The  distinction  of  naming  Idaho  certainly  belongs  to  my  old 
friend  Colonel  Craig  (since  deceased)  of  Craig's  Mountain,  Nez  Perce 
County.  As  for  some  fellow  naming  it  in  Congress  —  bah  !  The 
name  was  familiar  in  five  thousand  men's  mouths  as  they  wallowed 
through  the  snow  in  1861,  on  the  way  to  Oro  Fino  mines,  long  before 
Congress,  or  any  man  of  Congress,  had  even  heard  of  the  new  dis- 
covery. 

" '  The  facts  are  these  :  I  was  riding  pony  express  at  the  time 
rumors  reached  us,  through  the  Nez  Perce  Indians,  that  gold  was  to 
be  found  on  the  head  waters  and  tributaries  of  the  Salmon  River.  I 
had  lived  with  the  Indians  ;  and  Colonel  Craig,  who  had  spent  most 
of  his  life  with  them,  often  talked  with  me  about  possible  discoveries 
in  the  mountains  to  the  right,  as  we  rode  to  Oro  Fino,  and  of  what 
the  Indians  said  of  the  then  unknown  region.  Gallop  your  horse,  as 
I  have  a  hundred  times,  against  the  rising  sun.  As  you  climb  the 
Sweetwater  Mountains,  far  away  to  your  right,  you  will  see  the  name 
of  Idaho  written  on  the  mountain-top,  — at  least,  you  will  see  a  peculiar 
and  beautiful  light  at  sunrise,  a  sort  of  diadem  on  two  grand  clusters 
of  mountains  that  bear  away  under  the  clouds  fifty  miles  distant.  I 
called  Colonel  Craig's  attention  to  this  peculiar  and  beautifully  arched 
light.  "That,"  said  he,  "is  what  the  Indians  call  E-dah-hoe,  which 


346  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

means  the  light,  or  diadem,  on  the  line  of  the  mountains."  That  was 
the  first  time  I  ever  heard  the  name.  Later,  in  September,  1861, 
when  I  rode  into  the  newly  discovered  camp  to  establish  an  express 
office,  I  took  with  me  an  Indian  from  Lapwai.  We  followed  an 
Indian  trail,  crossed  Craig's  Mountains,  then  Camas  Prairie,  and  had 
all  the  time  E-dah-hoe  Mount  for  our  objective  point. 

" '  On  my  return  to  Lewiston  I  wrote  a  letter  containing  a  brief 
account  of  our  trip  and  of  the  mines,  and  it  was  published  in  one  of 
the  Oregon  papers,  which  one  I  have  now  forgotten.  In  that  account 
I  often  mentioned  E-dah-hoe,  but  spelt  it  Idaho,  leaving  the  pronun- 
ciation unmarked  by  any  diacritical  signs.  So  that,  perhaps,  I  may 
have  been  the  first  to  give  it  its  present  spelling,  but  I  certainly  did 
not  originate  the  word.' 

"  A  writer  in  the  New  West  apparently  well  informed,  declares  that 
Idaho  is  not  a  Nez  Perce"  word,  adding:  'The  mountains  that  Joaquin 
Miller  speaks  of  may  be  named  with  a  somewhat  similar  appellation, 
but  most  likely  the  whole  story  grows  out  of  the  fertile  imagination  of 
the  poet.  Idaho  Springs,  in  Colorado,  were  known  long  before  Idaho 
Territory  was  organized.  The  various  Territories  at  their  organiza- 
tion should  have  been  given  some  appropriate  local  name.  Colorado 
was  named  after  the  river  of  that  name,  though  it  is  not  within  its 
boundaries.  It  should  have  been  called  Idaho.  It  was  the  name 
first  placed  in  the  bill  organizing  it,  but  which  was  afterward  changed.' 

"  William  H.  Wallace,  the  delegate  to  Congress  from  Washington 
Territory,  who  introduced  the  bill  making  a  new  territory  out  of  the 
eastern  portion  of  Washington,  pleased  with  the  beauty  of  the  name 
of  Idaho,  suggested  it  as  an  appropriate  one. 

"  Ex-Senator  Nesmith  of  Oregon  gives  still  another  account : 
'The  bill  first  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  designating  the 
present  Territory  of  Idaho  as  "  Montana,"  when  it  came  up  for  con- 
sideration in  the  Senate  on  the  3d  of  March,  1863.  Senator  Wilson 
of  Massachusetts  moved  to  strike  out  the  word  "Montana"  and  insert 
"  Idaho."  Mr.  Harding  of  Oregon  said  :  "  I  think  the  name  '  Idaho  ' 
is  preferable  to  'Montana.''  Idaho  in  English  signifies  "the  Gem 
of  the  Mountains."  I  heard  others  suggest  that  it  meant  in  the 
Indian  tongue  "  Shining  Mountains,"  all  of  which  are  synonymous. 
I  do  not  know  from  which  of  the  Indian  tongues  the  two  words 
"  Ida-ho "  come.  I  think,  however,  if  you  will  pursue  the  inquiry 
among  those  familiar  with  the  Nez  Perce,  Shoshone,  and  Flat  Head 
tribes,  that  you  will  find  the  origin  of  the  two  words  as  I  have  given 
it  above.' " 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


347 


Boise  City  was  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  nearest  rail- 
road station  until  three  years  ago,  and  could  be  reached  only  by  a 
long  and  wearisome  journey  by  stage  or  team  for  days  and  nights. 
To  travellers  it  was  a  desolate  region,  through  which  they  journeyed  to 
reach  the  little  thrifty  city  which  pluck  and  enterprise  had  reared  at 
the  mouth  of  Boise  River,  from  which  its  name  was  derived. 

The  business  part  of  the  town  is  built  of  brick  and  stone,  a  city 
ordinance  prohibiting  the  erection  of  wooden  buildings.  A  business 
of  more  than  $200,000  monthly  is  done  by  the  citizens.  There  are 
three  excellent  hotels,  more  than  twenty  stores  of  all  kinds,  and 


BOISE  CITY. 

three  newspapers,  —  two  of  them  weekly,  and  the  other  tri-weekly. 
The  streets  are  wide,  and  so  shaded  with  trees  as  to  appear  beautiful 
beyond  comparison.     Hence  the  name  by  which  the  place  is  known, 
-  "  Wooded  City." 

One  of  the  writers  already  quoted  says  :  "  There  is  land  enough  in 
the  neighborhood  for  all  who  choose  to  come.  The  history  of  the 
past  twenty  years  of  this  valley  shows  what  energy  and  determina- 
tion can  accomplish  in  the  face  of  almost  insuperable  obstacles. 
With  these  obstacles  now  removed,  and  with  the  valley  easily  accessi- 
ble by  rail  to  the  immigrant  seeking  a  home  and  the  capitalist  an  in- 
vestment for  his  money,  the  growth  of  the  next  few  years  must  be  far 
greater  and  more  marked  than  at  any  period  in  the  past.  Boise  valley 


348 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


349 


proper  is  about  sixty  miles  long  and  from  two  to  six  wide,  containing 
two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  good  arable  land.  Wherever  this 
has  been  brought  under  cultivation  by  means  of  irrigating  ditches, 
the  most  wonderful  results  have  been  obtained." 

In  the  centre  of  the  cut  opposite  the  capitol  is  seen.  This  ele- 
gant structure  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  eighty  thousand  dollars! 
On  the  right  is  the  court-house,  which  cost  $70,000.  On  the  left  of 


CENTRAL  SCHOOL    BUILDING. 

the  capitol  is  a  public-school  building,  four  stories  high  with  mansard 
roof.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  eighty-two  by  one  hundred  feet,  and 
cost  $50,000.  One  who  knows  says  :  "  The  school  system  is  the 
pride  of  the  city.  It  is  thoroughly  graded,  has  a  principal  and  six 
assistant  teachers,  and  is  in  such  high  favor,  and  does  its  work  so 
satisfactorily  that  no  private  schools  are  maintained,  though  there  are 
more  than  seven  hundred  children  of  school  age  in  the  district. 


350 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Many  families  from  a  distance  reside  in  the  city  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  their  children  those  excellent  educational  advantages." 

Such  a  place  in  far-away  Idaho,  where  a  few  years  ago  the  adven- 
turer would  go  to  be  scalped,  but 
not  to  be  educated  !      A  marvel, 
indeed,  is  such  a  change. 

There  was  but  one  house  in 
Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  on  the 
fourth  day  of  July,  1867.  In  the 
spring  of  1 869  there  were  six  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  awaicened  latent  powers  of  progress 
and  set  all  of  its  machinery  in  motion.  This  population  of  six 
thousand  embraced  scores  of  irresponsible  men,  who  moved  forward 
with  the  road,  leaving  the  more  substantial  element  to  build  up 
an  orderly  and  thriving  town.  Still,  Cheyenne  suffered  for  a  time 
by  the  presence  and  depredations  of  "roughs,"  who  frequented 
gambling  hells  and  dance  halls,  until  the  best  citizens,  satisfied  that 


On  Line  of  U.  P.  Railroad. 

FIRST  CAPITOL  OF  KANSAS. 


LAST  CAPITOL. 


stringent  measures  only  would  relieve  the  town  of  this  vicious  class, 
rose  in  their  might  and  appointed  a  vigilance  committee,  who  suspen- 
ded several  of  the  most  desperate  fellows  by  the  neck  from  trees  or 
other  elevations.  Their  accomplices  made  a  personal  application  of  the 
hint,  and  departed  for  "  parts  unknown,"  from  which  time  Cheyenne 
has  been  one  of  the  most  quiet  and  flourishing  young  cities  on  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


351 


line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.     We  show,  on  page  349,  one  of 
its  three  fine  schoolhouses. 

The  growth  and  enterprise  of  Cheyenne  were  not  dependent  upon 
the  discovery  of  gold  mines,  as  was  the  case  with  Leadville  and  other 
mining  towns  ;  but  it  was  the  outgrowth  of  that  western  public  spirit, 
which  found  occasion  for  development  in  the  construction  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad.  There  are  many  other  towns  of  equal  thrift 
which  have  sprung  up  in  the  same  way,  leading  the  best  New  England 
communities  now  in  magnitude  of  business,  the  excellence  of  their 
schools,  and  the  general  progress  of  public  affairs.  But  for  our 
limited  space  we  should  make  special  mention  of  other  towns. 

Public  enterprise  in  Kansas  is  of  a  high  order.  The  effect  of  it  is 
seen  in  every  department  of  social  and  public  life.  It  pushes  agricul- 
ture, manufactures,  the  mechanic  arts,  science,  learning,  and  religion. 
The  public  buildings  of  no  State  in  the  Union  are  more  expressive 

of  enterprise  than  those  of  Kansas. 
We  are  able  to  furnish  the  reader 
with  a  correct  illustration  of  the 
first  and  last  capitol  of  the  State 
(P-  350). 

The  last  capitol  is  not  quite 
completed  at  this  time  of  writing  ; 
but  the  cut  shows  that  the  finished 
structure  will  be  imposing  and  ele- 
gant. 

At  Gunnison  city,  on  the  Pacific 
Slope,  where  there  were  but  six  or 
eight  cabins  in  the  spring  of  1880, 
we  found  a  population  of  three 
thousand  in  the  autumn  of  1883,  with  a  system  of  graded  schools, 
including  high  school  and  superintendent  of  public  schools.  The 
town  had  sixty  thousand  dollars  invested  in  school  property  at  that 
time.  Three  years  seemed  to  be  ample  time  for  this  thriving,  driv- 
ing community  to  accomplish  what  would  require  ten  years  to  do  in 
New  England.  The  following  cut  represents  the  best  hotel  of  the 
city,  built  and  furnished  at  a  cost  of  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  THOU- 
SAND DOLLARS. 

One  who  knows  sends  us  the  following  :  — 

"  At  the  confluence  of  the  Gunnison  and  Tomichi  rivers,  on  the 
western  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  there  is  a  broad  level  valley, 
surrounded  by  mountains  which  present  the  most  beautiful  and  pic- 


GUNNISON    IN   1879. 


352 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


turesque  autumnal  landscapes  imaginable.  On  the  side  of  one  of 
these  mountains  in  bold  relief  is  outlined  the  profile  of  a  human 
head,  and  legend  tells  us  that  the  Indians  used  to  make  annual  visits 
to  this  valley  to  worship  the  Great  Spirit.  In  1879  the  habitations  of 
this  valley  consisted  of  the  little  log-cabin  shown  in  the  illustration, 
and  a  few  tents ;  but  about  this  time  the  reports  of  the  fabulous  min- 
eral wealth  of  the  great  Gunnison  country  began  to  be  noised  abroad, 
and  soon  the  mountains  were  filled  with  a  fickle  horde  of  fortune- 
hunters,  and  mining  towns  with  populations  of  one  to  three  thousand 
sprang  up  in  a  few  months.  This  beautiful  valley  seemed  the  natural 


LA  VETA  HOTEL,  GUNNISON. 

place  for  the  '  Gate  City '  of  this  great  Eldorado,  and  in  March,  1 880, 
Gunnison  was  incorporated  with  forty  voters.  By  the  middle  of  1881 
her  population  had  grown  to  over  five  thousand  ;  the  Denver  &  Rio 
Grande  Railway  had  gotten  into  the  country  and  began  to  develop  the 
vast  coal  fields  near  by. 

"  The  superior  quality  of  this  fuel,  and  the  abundant  resources  of  all 
other  essentials,  in  such  close  proximity  to  Gunnison,  soon  attracted 
the  attention  of  capitalists,  and  convinced  them  that  there  must,  ere 
long,  flourish  one  of  the  greatest  manufacturing  cities  in  the  West. 
This  faith  led  to  large  permanent  investments  which  have  put  Gun- 
nison beyond  the  uncertainties  of  most  Western  towns. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  353 

"  Prominent  among  these  investments  may  be  noted  that  of  a  com- 
pany of  wealthy  St.  Louis  gentlemen,  who,  through  their  efficient  man- 
ager, Mr.  D.  J.  McCanne,  expended,  during  the  year  1882,  nearly  half 
a  million  dollars  in  the  erection  of  fine  water  and  gas  works,  and  the 
palatial  La  Veta  Hotel.  To  the  nerve  and  enterprise  of  these  men 
in  making  these  magnificent  improvements,  much  of  Gunnison's  future 
depends.  These  same  gentlemen  have  since  invested  a  quarter  of  a 
million  in  the  erection  and  operation  of  large  reduction  works  there, 
which  are  now  in  successful  operation. 

"  Gunnison  has  lost  a  large  portion  of  her  shiftless  floating  popu- 
lation, but  retains  most  all  her  substantial  citizens,  who  are  so 
attached  to  her  climate,  her  fine  schools,  and  her  refined  cultured 
society,  that  they  could  not  be  long  satisfied  away  from  her.  The 
wealth  and  permanency  of  her  resources  are  now  being  rapidly  devel- 
oped, and  within  a  few  years  she  will  become  a  prominent  city  of  the 
western  slope.  To  the  capitalist,  the  sportsman,  the  pleasure-seeker, 
or  the  invalid,  Gunnison's  attractions  are  rare." 

The  same  correspondent  also  writes  :  — 

"  Among  the  many  wonderful  resources  of  the  great  Gunnison 
country,  there  are  none  that  excite  a  livelier  interest,  from  a  commer- 
cial standpoint,  than  the  wonderful  deposits  of  coal  and  iron  ore 
which  are  found  there. 

"  About  forty  miles  east  of  Gunnison  are  found  several  fine  de- 
posits of  hematite  iron  ore,  one  of  which  has  been  developed  to  a 
depth  of  fifty-three  feet,  showing  solid  iron  of  remarkable  purity,  car- 
rying 69  per  cent  metallic  iron,  2.30  per  cent  silica,  o.  116  per  cent 
sulphur,  and  0.008  phosphorus. 

"Within  thirty  miles  of  Gunnison,  in  the  same  direction,  is  found 
a  deposit  of  manganese  ore,  of  which  Regis  Chauvenet  &  Brother, 
metallurgists  and  chemists,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  say  :  '  We  consider 
this  an  excellent  ore  for  the  manufacture  of  "  spiegel "  iron,  since  it 
yields  iron  27.47,  and  manganese  17.90.  This  is  a  ratio  which  will 
yield  a  high  "spiegel,"  probably  1.30  per  cent  of  manganese;  and  it 
is  well  known  that  no  artificial  mixture  will  work  as  well  as  an  ore 
with  the  proper  ratio  of  the  two  metals.  The  low  phosphorus,  0.059, 
is  especially  noteworthy.' 

"The  most  wonderful  deposit  of  iron  ore  in  the  West,  is  found 
about  twenty-five  miles  southwest  of  Gunnison,  on  the  proposed  rail- 
road route  from  Gunnison  to  Lake  City.  After  a  careful  survey  of 
this  territory,  a  prominent  iron  manufacturer  of  St.  Louis  expressed 
his  belief  that  there  is  more  iron  there,  within  a  radius  of  five  miles, 


354  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

than  there  is  in  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  that  the  facilities  for  man- 
ufacturing it  cheaply  would  place  this  iron  in  competition  with  east- 
ern and  southern  iron  as  far  east  as  the  Missouri  River,  and  exclude 
all  other  iron  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

"  The  great  variety  of  ores  found  in  this  district,  comprising  hem- 
atite, specular,  magnetic,  black  oxide  and  manganese  ores,  all  high  in 
metallic  iron,  and  remarkably  free  from  silica,  sulphur,  and  phospho- 
rus, and  the  easy  access  and  facilities  for  cheap  mining  and  transpor- 
tation, and  the  close  proximity  of  abundance  of  the  best  fuel,  makes 
this  one  of  the  most  attractive  iron  deposits  to  be  found  in  the  United 
States. 

"  Underlying  Mount  Carbon  and  Mount  Wheatstone,  fifteen  to 
thirty  miles  north  of  Gunnison,  and  covering  an  area  of  over  three 
hundred  thousand  acres,  are  five  seams  of  as  fine  bituminous  coal  as 
can  be  found  in  the  United  States.  These  seams  vary  from  three  to 
ten  feet  in  thickness,  and  aggregate  thirty  feet ;  they  are  opened, 
and  most  of  them  are  extensively  developed.  Two  of  these  seams, 
one  ten  and  the  other  six  feet  in  thickness,  make  coke  of  the  finest 
quality,  yielding  90.71  per  cent  fixed  carbon,  8.67  per  cent  ash,  and 
0.37  per  cent  sulphur.  The  coke  yield  of  this  coal  is  75.76  per  cent 
of  the  weight  of  the  coal.  This  coking  coal  is  also  an  exceptionally 
fine  gas  coal.  Mr.  D.  J.  McCanne,  superintendent  of  the  Gunnison 
Gas  and  Water  Company,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  his 
yield  from  this  coal,  used  alone,  is  nearly  six  feet  of  sixteen-candle 
gas  per  pound  of  coal. 

"The  other  seams  yield  an  average  of  55  per  cent  fixed  car- 
bon, 33  per  cent  volatile  matter,  and  4  per  cent  ash.  One  of  these 
seams  has  been  covered  with  a  lava  capping,  the  heat  and  pressure  of 
which  has  converted  it  into  a  semi-anthracite,  rendering  it  peculiarly 
adapted  to  iron  manufacture  in  its  raw  state.  This  coal,  covering  an 
area  of  over  six  hundred  acres,  lies  within  fifteen  miles  of  Gunnison. 

"  Lying  further  north,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  to  forty  miles 
from  Gunnison,  is  a  large  area  where  these  same  coal  measures  have 
been  broken  up  and  subjected  to  heat,  leaving  here  and  there,  large 
deposits  of  anthracite  coal  of  very  superior  quality,  yielding  98.76  per 
cent  fixed  carbon  and  2.27  per  cent  ash.  This  anthracite,  so  far  as 
now  developed,  covers  an  area  of  about  ten  thousand  acres  ;  but  there 
is  little  doubt  that  systematic  drilling  will  develop  all  the  other  seams, 
as  only  two  of  the  five  are  so  far  discovered. 

"These  coal  lands  are  all  accessible  by  rail  and  have  been  exten- 
sively developed.  There  was  shipped  during  the  year  1886,  fifty-one 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  355 

thousand  tons  of  bituminous  coal,  thirty-two  thousand  tons  of  coke, 
and  eighteen  thousand  tons  of  anthracite. 

"  Still  farther  north,  but  less  accessible,  are  found  more  wonderful 
deposits  of  coal,  —  anthracite,  bituminous,  and  coking,  some  of  the 
seams  being  sixteen  feet  in  thickness.  A  large  body  of  this  coal  is 
held  by  the  Cunard  Steamship  Company  ;  other  syndicates  control 
large  tracts. 

"  But  the  great  bulk  of  this  coal  and  iron  land  is  yet  held  by  the 
original  locators,  and  can  be  secured  at  a  small  advance  above  the 
government  price,  which  is  twenty  dollars  per  acre." 

The  most  marvellous  growth  of  modern  times,  however,  is  the  city 
of  Denver,  Colorado.  In  1858  there  were  only  a  few  tents  and  huts 
on  the  spot  where  the  city  now  stands.  Less  than  fifty  people  were 
there  through  the  winter  of  1858-59,  drawn  thither  by  the  discovery 
of  gold.  A  barren  waste  was  all  that  met  the  vision  in  every  direc- 
tion at  that  time  ;  for  it  was  the  "  Great  American  Desert,"  which 
spread  out  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  —  the 
home  of  the  buffalo  and  the  hunting-ground  of  the  Indian.  At  the 
banquet  of  "  Pioneers  "  in  Denver,  Sept.  13,  1883,  —  an  association 
of  men  who  settled  in  Colorado  previous  to  1861,  —  Governor  Steele, 
who  was  one  of  the  members,  said  :  — 

"I  landed  in  Denver  on  the  4th  of  May,  1859.  There  was  noth- 
ing but  tents  and  cabins  about  here.  We  had  fought  our  way  against 
the  current  that  had  turned  back,  who  told  us  the  country  was  a  bar- 
ren land  ;  that  we  would  starve  to  death  ;  that  Green  Russell  had  not 
found  anything;  and  that  the  reports  we  had  heard  were  lies.  We 
dared  not  oppose  them,  nor  declare  that  we  intended  to  come  on  to 
the  end,  because  they  were  so  determined  not  to  allow  any  one  to 
sacrifice  himself,  as  they  called  it,  that  they  were  ready  to  mob  and 
hang  us  if  we  did  not  yield.  We  had  to  steal  away  from  them  in 
order  to  go  on." 

No  persons-  are  more  amazed  over  the  growth  of  Denver,  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  New  West,  than  the  "  Fifty-niners  "  (as  they  have 
been  called),  who  struck  fortunes  when  they  struck  the  junction  of 
Platte  River  and  Cherry  Creek. 

What  do  we  see  now  where  these  pioneers  pitched  their  tents  or 
reared  their  humble  cabins  ?  The  largest,  richest,  and  most  beautiful 
city  of  its  age  on  earth,  —  a  sparkling,  costly  jewel  on  the  bosom  of 
the  "desert."  Where  less  than  fifty  people  wintered  in  1858-59, 
seventy-five  thousand  now  dwell,  —  as  intelligent,  enterprising,  and 
generous  a  population  as  can  be  found  in  New  England.  The  city  is 


356 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


handsomely  laid  out,  with  wide  avenues  lined  with  shade-trees,  and 
beautified  with  irrigating  rivulets  ;  large  and  costly  warehouses  and 
public  buildings ;  street-cars ;  the  electric  light ;  water-works ;  ele- 
gant churches ;  newspapers,  and  schools  unsurpassed  by  those  of 
Boston  ;  telegraph,  telephone,  and  railway  facilities  ;  in  short,  every- 
thing necessary  to  promote  the  growth  of  a  marvellous  city,  which 
may  contain,  in  twenty  years,  a  population  of  two  hundred  thousand. 

"  Beautiful  for  situation  "  is  Denver,  though  founded  on  a  "  desert "  ; 
for  that  "desert"  has  been  made  "to  blossom  as  the  rose."  The 
Rocky  Mountains  rise  grandly  to  view  along  the  entire  western  hori- 
zon. The  vision  takes  in  the  snow-capped  summits  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles.  On  the  north,  "  Long's  Peak  "  lifts  its  tall  form,  and 
to  the  south,  Pike's  Peak  towers  skyward,  with  the  "snowy  range"  be- 
tween, presenting  a  landscape  which  challenges  brush  and  pencil. 

The  business  of  the  city  is  immense.  The  last  Report  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  shows  that  the  business  of  1886  amounted  to 
($67,725,256.05)  sixty-seven  million  seven  hundred  thirty-five  thou- 
sand t%vo  hundred  fifty -six  dollars  and  five  cents.  The  receipts  of  the 
post-office  for  the  same  time,  including  money-order  receipts,  were 
($4,455,007.72)  four  million  four  liundred  fifty-five  thousand  seven 
dollars  and  seventy-two  cents.  Net  income  to  the  government 
($86,518.93)  eighty-six  thousand  five  hundred  eighteen  dollars  and 
ninety-three  cents.  The  "  money-order  receipts  "  amounted  to  more 
than  two  million  dollars. 

The  report  contains  the  following  respecting  the  banks  of  the 
city,  showing  remarkable  solidity  of  financial  institutions  :  — 


DATES. 

CASH. 

LOANS. 

CAPITAL. 

DEPOSITS. 

December  20,  1884  .  .  . 
March  10,  1885  
May  i,  1885  

$4,486,694 
4,616,643 
4,553,009 
4,56l,4IO 
5,275,262 
5,249,344 

$4,803,825 
5.185,205 

5,485,5  '9 

5,607,555 
5,854,366 
5,979,604 

$2,O7O,O76 
2,083,419 
2,077,847 
2,086,664 
2,096,490 
2,139,649 

$2,22O,47O 

7>7I4,454 
7,960,710 
8,082,324 

9,033.H5 
9,089,324 

July  i,  1  88;  . 

October  i,  1885  

December  24,  1885  .  .  . 

Gain  from  Dec.  20,  '84, 
to  Dec.  24,  1885  ... 
Percentage  of  Gain  .  .  . 

$762,650 

'7 

*i.  175.779 

24^ 

$69,563 

3# 

$1,868,854 

26 

December  24,  1885  .  .  . 
March  I,  1886    

$5,249,344 
5.381,376 

•  •  •  ^5.979.6°4 
.  .  .     6,319,090 

$2,139,649 
2,125,570 

... 

$9,089,324 
9,574,919 

... 

MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


357 


DATES. 

CASH. 

LOANS. 

CAPITAL 

DEPOSIT 

5. 

June  3,  1886    

Sc.48^,^78 

S6,8-?4,82i 

$2,TO:;/V1,1 

IO.I27   I7Q 

August  27,  1886  

6,oi;i;,QOi 

7.1  1C,,  760 

2.  l87.  3Q2 

10.084  2Q4. 

October  7   1886  .      .  . 

6  O7  1    7O  C 

7  2Q2  l8l 

2  2OQ  727 

II    I  C7  787 

December  28,  1886  .  .  . 

5>64i>565 

7,544,694 

2,296,575 

10,889,715 

Gain  from  Dec.  24,  '85, 
to  Dec.  28,  1886  ... 
Percentage  of  Gain  .  .  . 

$392,221 

7 

$1,565,090 

26 

$156,926 

7 

$I,80O,39I 

» 

The  returns  of  the  "Denver  Clearing  House"  for  1886,  aggregate 
almost  eigJity-six  million  dollars. 

We  have  spoken  of  Denver  as  the  wealthiest  city  of  its  size  in  the 
world.  Mr.  M.  G.  Mulhall,  the  celebrated  Irish  statistician,  has  re- 
cently published  the  following  in  the  North  American  Review  :  — 

"In  1830,  Great  Britain  had  a  population  of  24,000,000,  and  capi- 
tal amounting  to  $16,890,000,000 ;  in  1850,  27,200,000  population, 
and  $25,800,000,000  capital;  in  1870,  31,300,000  population,  and 
$35,400,000,000  capital ;  in  1884,  36,200,000  population,  and  $45,300,- 
000,000  capital.  France  had,  in  1830,  32,100,000  population,  and 
$10,659,000,000  capital;  in  1850,  35,700,000  population,  and  $15,- 
850,000,000  capital;  in  1870,  37,800,000  population,  and  $26,200,- 
000,000  capital;  in  1884,  38,200,000  population,  and  $41,200,000,000 
capital.  The  United  States  had,  in  1830,  12,900,000  population, 
capital  not  given  ;  in  1850,  23,200,000  population,  and  $8,430,000,000 
capital;  in  1870,  38,600,000  population,  and  $35,370,000,000  capital ; 
in  1884,  55,500,000  population,  and  $51,670,000,000  capital.  That 
is,  in  fifty-four  years  Great  Britain  has  almost  trebled  her  wealth, 
France  has  nearly  quadrupled  hers,  and  the  United  States  has  seen 
its  capital  multiply  more  than  sixfold." 

We  quote  these  facts  for  the  purpose  of  saying  that  Denver  has 
far  outstripped  even  the  "  sixfold  "  growth  of  the  United  States  in 
fifty-four  years.  In  half  that  time  it  has  advanced  from  nothing  to 
forty  millions  ! 

Broadway,  New  York  City,  does  not  present  more  enterprise,  sta- 
bility, and  rush,  than  we  behold  in  Larimer  Street,  bating  the  differ- 
ence in  magnitude.  Eastern  solidity,  tact,  and  forethought  seem  to 
be  mixed  up  with  Western  dash,  in  about  equal  parts.  The  result  is 
a  bustling,  thriving,  inspiring  scene.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  as  proof 
of  marvellous  progress,  that  twenty-seven  years  ago,  where  Larimer 


358 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Street  crosses  Cherry  Creek,  two  flattened  pine  logs  with  a  rough 
board  railing,  formed  a  foot-bridge  from  bank  to  bank  ;  and  at  this 
point,  a  flour  barrel  sunk  supplied  the  inhabitants  with  water.  This 
slight  convenience  for  supplying  water,  contrasted  with  the  present 
water-works  in  the  city  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  artesian  wells, 
exhibits  a  change  almost  incredible. 

A  pictorial  representation  of  such  a  city  will  furnish  a  better  idea 
of  the  character  of  its  people  and  business  than  any  verbal  descrip- 
tion. The  first  object  which  surprises  the  tourist  on  reaching  Denver 
is  the  "  Union  Depot." 


The  Union  Depot  is  a  magnificent  structure,  —  substantial,  com- 
modious, and  elegant.  It  stands  at  the  foot  of  Seventeenth  Street, 
and  is  five  hundred  and  three  feet  long  and  sixty-nine  feet  wide.  A 
tower  adorns  the  centre  of  the  building,  rising  gracefully  to  the 
height  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet.  It  is  built  of  Colorado 
stone,  with  the  exception  of  the  pillars  of  the  arches. 

On  the  ground  floor,  at  the  west  end,  is  the  baggage-room,  ninety 
by  sixty-two  feet  in  size,  provided  with  every  modern  improvement 
for  handling  baggage.  On  this  floor,  too,  are  two  spacious  waiting- 
rooms  for  ladies  and  gentlemen,  large  dining-hall,  ticket  office,  Pull- 
man ticket  office,  express  offices,  barber  shop,  etc. 

The  second  floor  contains  fifty-six  offices,  occupied  chiefly  by  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


359 


Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  and  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railway  Company  for  the  transaction  of  their  immense  business. 

The  building  is  heated  by  steam,  three  large  boilers  in  the  base- 
ment doing  the  work,  and,  at  the  same  time,  pumping  water  to  all 
parts  of  it.  It  is  lighted  by  gas  and  the  electric  light.  An  artesian 
well,  sunk  at  an  expense  of  three  thousand  dollars,  supplies  the  depot 
with  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  gallons  of  water  every  twenty- 
four  hours. 

Beautiful  grounds  and  driveways  surround  the  building,  adorned 
with  fine  shade-trees  and  four  fountains,  adding  an  indescribable 

charm  to  the  spot.  The 
depot  cost  Jive  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  is  es- 
timated that  jive  hundred 
thousand  passengers  came 
in  or  went  out  of  this  depot 
in  1885.  In  the  same  time 
one  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  pieces  of  bag- 
gage were  handled.  All 
this,  where  less  than  thirty 
years  ago  there  was  naught 
but  a  desert  waste  ! 

A  Denver  newspaper 
says  :  "  As  a  sample  how 
Denver  men  travel  to  dis- 
tant and  divergent  points, 
a  recent  day's  sale  of  tick- 
ets at  the  city  office  of 
the  Union  Pacific  were 

aptly  illustrative.  Agent  C.  H.  Olmsted  sold  tickets  to  Califor- 
nia, Florida,  New  York,  Alaska,  England,  and  Sweden.  He  also 
had  inquiry  for  a  ticket,  which  will  probably  soon  be  called  for, 
via  San  Francisco,  China,  Suez  Canal,  and  England  to  New  York 
City.  Alaska  is  a  distant  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  yet,  by 
taking  emigrant  railway  and  steerage  steamship  rates,  the  journey 
can  be  made  for  seventy-five  dollars,  while  first-class  fare  costs 
only  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dollars.  To  Sweden  the  cheap 
rate  is  sixty-four  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents,  but  coming  this  way 
to  Denver  only  forty-seven  dollars,  while  first-class  fare  is  about  one 
hundred  and  ten  dollars.  An  agent  of  a  city  ticket-office  here  is 


FIRST  CAPITOL  OF  COLORADO. 


3<5o 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


obliged  to  keep  a  globe  handy  for  reference  to  study  out  the  lines  of 
travel  desired  by  residents  of  Denver." 

The  State  House  of  Colorado,  situated  on  Capitol  Hill,  Denver, 
will  be  one  of  the  finest  structures  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States 
when  it  is  completed.  It  will  cost  one  million  dollars.  The  building 
is  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  feet  long,  exclusive  of  portico  or  steps  ; 
its  depth  at  the  centre  is  one  hundred  and  ninety-two-feet,  and  its 
height  is  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet,  one-third  higher  than 


LAST  CAPITOL  OF  COLORADO. 

Bunker  Hill  Monument.  It  is  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Colorado. 
The  statute  under  which  the  splendid  edifice  is  reared  allows  the 
builder  four  years  in  which  to  do  his  work,  or  until  Jan.  i,  1890. 
One  thousand  car-loads  of  cut  stone,  eleven  million  brick,  and  four 
million  pounds  of  iron  will  be  wrought  into  the  structure.  The  roof 
will  be  covered  with  half-inch  slate  fastened  by  brass  screws  and 
bedded  in  concrete.  Every  window  will  be  of  plate-glass,  and  the 
interior  will  be  finished  in  hard  wood. 

This  very  brief  description  of  the  Capitol,  together  with  the  above 
illustration  of  it,  will  enable  the  reader  to  appreciate  its  beauty  and 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE, 


361 


grandeur,  compared  with  the  first  Capitol.  Standing  as  it  does  upon 
an  eminence  that  overlooks  the  city,  its  effect  upon  the  traveller 
approaching  the  metropolis  is  inspiring.  It  is  a  crown  of  glory  to 
Denver ;  and  it  will  proclaim  to  future  generations  of  Coloradoians 
the  noble  aim  and  enterprise  of  the  present. 

The  nine  lots  on  which  the  Tabor  Grand  Opera  Mouse  is  erected 
cost  about  sixty  thousand  dollars,  which  is  pretty  well  for  so  small  a 
slice  of  the  "  American  Desert."  The  building  has  a  frontage  on  Cur- 
tis Street  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  on  Sixteenth  Street.  It  is  in  the  Queen  Anne 
style  of  architecture,  five  stories  high,  with  finished  basement. 
The  material  is  Golden  pressed  brick  and  Manitou  white  sand- 
stone trimmings.  The  partition  walls  are  all  of  brick.  The  man- 
sard roof  is  covered  with  slate,  and  the  cornice  and  trimmings  of 

galvanized  iron.  The  building  is 
surmounted  with  three  towers,  the 
main  one  at  the  corner  of  Six- 
teenth and  Curtis  Streets.  The 
height  of  the  grand  tower,  from 
the  pavement  to  the  top  of  the 
finial,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
On  the  Curtis  Street  front,  at  the 
third  story,  are  three  stone  balco- 
nies of  ornamental  design.  The 
windows  are  very  numerous,  and 
are  of  the  twin  or  triple  order. 
Two  large  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor,  each  twenty-five  feet  wide,  and  one  hundred  feet  deep,  are 
occupied  by  the  post-office.  Each  story  above  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  rooms,  all  en  suite.  To  these  three  stairways 
lead.  The  Opera  House  is  in  the  west  corner  of  the  building. 
The  first  object  that  attracts  attention  at  the  main  entrance  is 
the  great  white  marble  step.  Standing  on  this,  immediately  over- 
head, is  a  stone  portico  two  stories  in  height,  of  very  ornamental 
design,  supported  by  two  gray  granite  pillars,  two  feet  six  inches  in 
diameter,  and  twenty-eight  feet  high.  The  capitals  of  these  pillars 
are  elaborately  carved.  The  entrance  proper  is  a  great  archway  of 
Manitou  stone,  eighteen  feet  wide  and  twenty-eight  feet  high,  sup- 
ported on  granite  pilasters.  Passing  through  the  immense  folding- 
doors,  the  hallway  is  reached,  which  is  twenty-four  feet  wide,  and 
fifty-four  feet  deep.  The  floor  of  the  hall  is  paved  with  Minton  tile, 


TABOR  GRAND  OPERA  HOUSE. 


362 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


diamond  in  shape,  and  of  divers  colors.  The  walls  are  wainscoted 
in  alternate  panels  of  white  and  gray  marble,  the  ceiling  is  beauti- 
fully frescoed,  and  the  walls  above  the  wainscoting  finely  decorated. 
We  have  not  space  to  describe  the  beauty  and  elegance  of  the  inte- 
rior construction,  and  can  only  add  that  the  building  is  supplied  with 
artesian  water.  The  building  cost  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 


WINDSOR  HOTEL. 

This  is  a  magnificent  structure,  —  the  finest  hotel  in  Denver,  - 
opened  in  the  summer  of  1881.  It  cost,  including  land,  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  It  is  located  on  the  corner  of  Lari- 
mer and  Eighteenth  Streets.  The  building  covers  a  space  of  two 
hundred  by  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  with  a  court  thirty- 
seven  by  ninety-four  feet  in  centre,  lighting  and  above  the  basement, 


•     MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  363 

which  latter  is  devoted  to  airing  the  interior  rooms.  There  are  five 
floors,  the  steam,  washing,  and  general  storage  departments.  The 
main  entrance  is  in  the  centre  on  Larimer  Street,  with  the  ladies' 
entrance  on  Eighteenth  Street.  There  are  eight  single  stores  and 
one  large  double  corner  store  on  the  ground  floor,  besides  a  reading- 
room  and  a  barber  shop,  all  opening  into  the  corridors  of  the  hotel,  in 
addition  to  the  street  entrances.  The  public  office,  with  coat  rooms 
and  lavatory,  are  in  the  centre,  with  the  billiard  and  bar  rooms  ad- 
joining. The  grand  dining-room,  forty-four  by  eighty-four  feet ; 
ladies'  ordinary,  thirty-seven  by  sixty-two  feet ;  club  room  ;  nurses'  and 
children's  dining  room,  twenty  by  forty  feet  ;  with  the  three  public 
parlors  and  guests'  private  rooms  on  the  two  fronts,  are  on  the  second 
floor.  There  are  about  sixty  rooms  on  each  of  the  floors  above,  mak- 
ing in  all  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  rooms,  aside  from  the 
public  rooms,  singly  and  en  suite,  with  mantels  and  wash-bowls,  and 
those  fronting  on  the  two  streets  have  private  bath-rooms  attached. 
There  are  two  easy  and  commodious  landing  staircases  in  addition  to 
the  private  and  servants'  stairways.  The  corridors,  extending 
entirely  around  the  building,  are  wide  and  well  lighted. 

An  Otis  steam  passenger  elevator,  with  every  known  safety  device 
and  appliance,  completes  the  appointments  of  a  public  house  second 
to  none  in  Eastern  cities.  The  hotel  is  supplied  with  artesian  water. 
It  is  furnished  throughout  in  the  most  elegant  style  of  modern  art. 

There  are  several  other  large,  first-class  hotels  in  the  city,  less 
elegant  than  the  Windsor,  but  equally  well  arranged  for  the  comfort 
of  guests  ;  while  one  or  two  score  of  smaller  ones,  with  more  modest 
prices,  receive  their  full  share  of  patronage.  Some  idea  of  the  im- 
mense number  of  guests  in  the  city  may  be  learned  from  the  fact, 
that,  for  several  years  past,  the  annual  arrivals  at  the  hotels  have 
exceeded  two  hundred  tliousand.  It  has  been  difficult  to  provide 
accommodations  for  travellers,  so  great  has  been  their  influx ;  and  it 
speaks  well  for  hotel  proprietors,  that  they  have  not  taken  advantage 
of  these  circumstances,  and  charged  higher  prices  than  prevail  in 
Eastern  cities. 

The  schools  of  Denver,  and,  indeed,  of  Colorado,  excel  those  of 
Boston  and  Massachusetts  in  some  particulars.  Nor  would  the 
author  limit  this  remark  to  Colorado.  No  better  public  and  private 
schools  are  found  in  the  East  than  are  found  in  all  the  older  portions 
of  the  New  West.  Adopting  the  best  elements  of  the  Eastern  school 
system,  tested  for  years,  and  adding  thereto  the  latest  and  best  im- 
provements suggested  by  leading  American  educators,  the  friends  of 


364  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. ' 

education  in  the  New  West  may  well  challenge  the  criticisms  of  New 
England.  But  the  schools  of  Denver  are  exceptionally  excellent,  and 
its  school-buildings  are  more  complete  than  even  those  of  Boston. 
The  late  Dr.  John  D.  Philbrick,  for  many  years  the  accomplished 
superintendent  of  Boston  schools,  and  one  of  the  most  experienced 
and  reliable  educators  of  the  country,  visited  the  schools  of  Denver 
in  the  spring  of  1882,  and  devoted  several  weeks  to  a  systematic  and 
thorough  examination  of  them.  He  says  :  — 

"  In  the  first  place,  the  schoolhouses  were  visited  while  occupied 
by  the  pupils,  and  their  qualities  —  mechanical,  economic,  hygienic, 
and  pedagogical  —  noted  in  detail,  '  from  turret  to  foundation-stone.' 
Mr.  Superintendent  Gove  then,  with  documents  in  hand,  went  over  to 
me,  at  great  length,  the  organization  and  practical  management  of  the 
system  with  respect  to  administration,  supervision,  instruction,  and 
discipline.  Thus  instructed,  I  applied  myself  to  the  inspection  and 
examination  of  the  classes  in  the  schoolrooms,  beginning  with  the 
lowest  Primary,  and  ending  with  the  graduating  class  of  the  High 
School,  in  hands  of  Mr.  Principal  Baker.  In  this  survey,  I  observed 
carefully  the  methods  of  teachers,  the  proficiency  of  the  pupils,  and 
the  spirit  in  which  teachers  and  pupils  were  working  for  the  ends  in 
view.  Finally,  I  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  the  teachers  in  a  body, 
and  of  conversing  with  a  considerable  number  of  them. 

"The  result  may  be  summed  up  by  saying  that  I  found  the  Den- 
ver school  system  to  be  admirable  in  all  respects.  Although  its  origin 
dates  back  scarcely  more  than  a  decade,  its  development  has  been 
so  wisely  and  energetically  conducted  that  already  it  fairly  belongs 
to  the  front  rank  of  city  systems.  It  is  pretty  safe  to  say  that  the 
creation  of  a  system  of  schools  on  so  large  a  scale,  of  such  excep- 
tional merits,  and  in  so  brief  a  space  of  time,  is  a  phenomenon  to 
which  the  history  of  education  affords  no  parallel. 

"  How  to  get  good  teachers  and  to  keep  them  is  at  once  the  most 
difficult  and  the  most  important  problem  in  the  whole  range  of  school 
economy.  And  it  is  but  just  to  the  members  of  the  Denver  Board 
of  Education  to  say  that  they  have  grappled  with  the  problem  more 
successfully  than  any  other  school  board  within  my  knowledge.  I 
found  by  examining  into  the  matter  that  the  happy  results  attained 
in  this  direction  were  due  largely,  and  perhaps  chiefly,  to  the  rational 
mode  of  examination  adopted  and  the  plan  of  appointments,  by  which 
favoritism  is  absolutely  excluded,  and  the  choice  is  determined  by 
merit  alone." 

We  should  be  glad  to  quote  the  whole  of  Dr.  Philbrick's  remarks, 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


365 


but  the  foregoing  are  sufficient  to  justify  our  praise  of  Denver 
schools ;  and  the  following  concerning  the  school-buildings  of  the 
city  pronounces  them  superior  to  those  of  Boston,  or  any  other  city 
or  town  in  the  country  :  — 

"  The  schoolhouses  of  Denver  reflect  the  highest  credit  upon  the 
school  officials  who  are  responsible  for  the  plans,  and  the  liberality  of 
the  citizens  in  furnishing  the  fund  for  their  erection.  These  are  all 
handsome  and  substantial  structures,  well  located  on  lots  of  ample 
dimensions.  As  to  cost,  they  are  truly  models  of  a  wise  economy. 
Every  schoolroom  is  first-class  in  every  respect.  The  corridors  and 


HIGH   SCHOOL. 


stairs  present  some  original  features  of  no  little  merit.  The  Ameri- 
can schoolhouse,  which  the  French  Commission  to  our  Centennial 
considered  our  best  model,  has  schoolrooms  of  the  first  order,  but 
the  corridors  are  dark  and  badly  ventilated,  and  the  stairs  are  un- 
satisfactory. It  is  only  just  to  say  that  Denver  has  been  more 
successful  in  remedying  these  defects  so  general  in  our  school  archi- 
tecture than  any  other  city  that  I  have  visited,  and  I  know  of  no  city 
that  has  better  accommodations  for  all  its  schools." 

In  February,  1879,  ^e  United  States  government  presented  the 
whole  block  one  hundred  and  forty-three  to  the  city,  on  condition 
that  a  school-building  should  be  erected  upon  it.  The  outcome  of 
the  gift  is  the  beautiful  High  School  building  as  seen  in  the  illustra- 


366  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

tion.  The  west  wing  was  erected  and  occupied  at  once,  the  accom- 
modations, for  the  time,  being  ample.  The  whole  edifice  will  soon 
be  completed  and  occupied.  The  west  wing  accommodates  the  pu- 
pils ;  the  east  wing  contains  the  museum  and  library  on  the  first 
floor,  and  assembly  hall  on  the  second  floor.  The  central  portion 
contains  offices,  recitation-rooms,  music  and  drawing  rooms,  and  is  so 
constructed  as  to  preserve  a  remarkable  symmetry  and  beauty  of  the 
whole.  The  grounds  are  so  graded  as  to  leave  the  building  on  a  ter- 
race, a  lovely  lawn  filling  the  space  between  the  fence  and  house. 
The  block  is  surrounded  with  a  neat  stone  coping  and  iron  fence, 
and  broad  stone  walks  lead  up  to  the  entrance.  When  the  admira- 
ble plan  is  carried  out,  trees,  fountains,  gas  lamps,  and  other  attrac- 
tions will  add  wondrous  beauty  to  well-chosen  utility.  The  whole 
cost  will  not  be  far  from  three  hundred  thousand  dollars, — a  school 
edifice  that  will  challenge  comparison  with  any  High  School  building 
in  the  United  States. 

Denver  and  its  schools  are  well  supplied  with  libraries.  The 
report  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  furnishes  some  interesting 
facts.  The  Public  Library  of  the  Denver  Chamber  of  Commerce 
and  Board  of  Trade  has  sixteen  thousand  volumes.  Its  large  read- 
ing-room has  on  file  fifteen  of  the  principal  American  and  English 
magazines,  fifteen  daily  and  thirty  weekly  papers.  The  report  says 
of  its  museum  :  — 

"In  connection  with  the  reading-room  is  the  nucleus  of  a  fine 
museum,  embracing  the  collection  of  animals,  birds,  fossil  remains, 
relics  from  the  ancient  Aztec  ruins,  etc.,  of  the  State  Historical 
Society  ;  a  large  and  very  interesting  collection  of  relics  from  nearly 
all  the  great  battle-fields  of  the  late  war ;  a  cabinet  containing  speci- 
mens of  all  the  native  woods  of  Colorado ;  a  carefully  selected  and 
very  valuable  cabinet  of  Colorado  minerals,  with  the  basis  of  a  fine 
horticultural  and  agricultural  exhibit  in  the  form  of  preserved  small 
fruits,  with  grains,  grasses,  etc.  But  perhaps  the  most  valuable, 
certainly  one  of  the  more  interesting,  is  a  cabinet  of  rare  old  books 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  (originals),  some  of  them 
beautifully  illustrated,  which  was  presented  by  Mr.  L.  A.  Watkins, 
of  this  city,  a  connoisseur  on  works  of  this  class  and  an  enthusiastic 
supporter  of  the  library.  Many  other  contributions  of  rare  speci- 
mens are  promised  by  this  patriotic  member,  and  undoubtedly  like 
favors  will  be  received  from  others,  so  that  in  a  few  years  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  library  and  museum  will  be  one  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive resorts  in  the  West." 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  367 


Other  libraries  contain  volumes  as  given  below :  — 


Vols. 

State  Library 8223 

State  Supreme  Court  Law  Library     .  5000 

Symes'  Law  Library 6000 

High  School  Library 35°° 

Gilpin  School  Library '  1000 

Whittier  School  Library 900 


Vols. 


Longfellow  School  Library  ....  300 

Franklin  School  Library 834 

Catholic  Library  Association     .     .     .  1000 

Denver  University 

Wolfe,  Matthews,  and  Jarvis  Halls    .     


Denver  has  a  large  supply  of  private  schools.  The  "  University 
of  Denver "  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  Methodist  denomination, 
designed  to  do  for  the  New  West  what  the  Boston  University  is 
doing  for  New  England.  It  is  rapidly  increasing  its  literary  advan- 
tages for  young  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

"Wolfe  Hall  "  was  established  by  the  Episcopal  denomination  in 
1868, — a  home  school  of  the  first  class,  exclusively  for  girls,  capa- 
ble of  accommodating  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  pupils. 

"Jarvis  Hall"  was  established  in  1869  by  the  Episcopal  denomina- 
tion, exclusively  for  boys.  It  is  a  thorough  school,  and  very  popular. 

"  Brinker's  Collegiate  Institute"  was  established  in  1877  by  Prof. 
Joseph  'Brinker,  of  Kentucky.  The  school  has  primary,  commer- 
cial, musical,  military,  and  collegiate  departments,  together  with  a 
"  School  of  the  Arts  "  and  a  kindergarten.  A  corps  of  accomplished 
teachers,  thoroughly  trained  for  their  work,  assures  the  best  of  disci- 
pline and  culture.  The  capacity  of  the  school  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  scholars  has  been  tested  from  the  beginning. 

All  of  these  private  institutions  occupy  large,  substantial,  and 
handsome  buildings. 

There  are  other  prosperous  private  schools  in  the  city  which  chal- 
lenge public  confidence  by  their  broad  plans  and  thorough  work ;  and 
we  mean  no  invidious  comparison  by  calling  attention  to  the  forego- 
ing. Our  only  purpose  is  to  furnish  the  reader  with  a  sample  of  the 
schools  and  school-buildings  to  be  found  upon  what  was  so  recently 
the  Sahara  of  the  West. 

Churches  are  numerous,  all  denominations  being  represented  in 
the  list.  Several  houses  of  worship  in  the  city  are  elegant  and  costly 
structures. 

GROWTH   OF   COLONIES. 

The  remarkable  success  of  certain  colonies  in  the  New  West 
deserves  special  notice.  Their  growth  and  prosperity  are  among  the 
marvels  of  that  wonderful  country.  Our  space,  however,  will  admit 


368  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  history  of  only  two.  The  first  is  that  of  Greeley,  Colorado, 
founded  in  1870.  The  originator  of  it  was  the  late  Horace  Greeley, 
of  New  York,  whose  name  the  beautiful  town  bears. 

The  citizens  celebrated  the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the  colony  in 
1885,  and  Gen.  R.  A.  Cameron  told  the  story  of  its  life  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  was  in  December,  1869,  that  the  first  call  was  issued  for  a  meet- 
ing for  the  formation  of  this  colony.  It  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Meeker 
should  write  a  letter  for  publication  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  asking 
those  who  thought  of  moving  West  to  establish  a  colony  with  high 
moral  purposes  and  temperance  platform,  to  get  together  in  Cooper 
Institute  on  the  day  before  Christmas.  He  did  so  ;  and  on  that  day,  the 
24th  of  December,  1869,  the  first  meeting  was  held.  At  that  meeting 
there  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  present  —  there  might 
have  been  two  hundred.  Mrs.  Cameron  was  the  only  lady  present  ; 
and  after  two  hours'  discussion  it  was  determined  that  we  should 
form  a  colony,  and  the  name  adopted  was  'Union  Colony,  No.  i.' 
An  executive  committee  was  appointed,  and  Mr.  Meeker  made  presi- 
dent. I  was  made  vice-president,  and  afterwards  superintendent. 
The  colony,  at  their  second  meeting,  appointed  a  locating  or  visiting 
committee ;  it  consisted  of  Mr.  Meeker,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Fiske, 
of  Toledo,  and  myself.  After  we  got  on  the  road,  it  was  seen  that 
Mr.  Fiske  took  but  little  interest  in  the  colony,  and  consequently,  by 
mutual  consent,  we  put  Mr.  West  in  his  place. 

"  Well,  we  rambled  over  Colorado  and  Utah,  and  looked  at  loca- 
tions hither  and  thither,  and  finally  concluded  that  the  Cache  la 
Poudre  Valley  was  the  best  place  to  locate  in,  and  returned  to  New 
York  and  reported.  It  seemed  desirable  that  we  should  keep  it  a 
secret,  and  we  did  so  until  the  land  had  been  secured.  The  locations 
suggested  were  very  numerous.  The  Bear  River  Valley  near  Salt 
Lake;  the  Great  Bend  region  on  the  Platte, — a  location  near  Fort 
Collins ;  but  we  thought  after  close  scrutiny  that  this  was  the  better 
soil  for  wheat  and  potatoes.  At  one  time  I  believed  we  would  locate 
in  the  Big  Bend  region,  near  Platteville.  Mr.  Meeker  was  earnest  in 
his  desire  to  locate  there,  and  I  liked  that  location  myself.  But  we 
met  a  friend,  and  adviser  in  the  person  of  our  now  honored  governor, 
Benjamin  H.  Eaton,  who  had  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  soil  and 
his  experience  in  this  country  and  New  Mexico ;  and  his  persuasion 
brought  us  here  to  the  Poudre  Valley. 

"  At  first  it  was  not  settled  that  this  should  be  so  exclusively  a 
temperance  colony.  The  question  was  not  discussed  as  to  how  far 
we  should  go  in  this  regard,  until  one  night  Mr.  Greeley  sent  for  me, 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  369 

and  asked  me  to  meet  him  and  Mr.  Meeker  in  his  office  up  stairs  in  the 
Tribune  building,  when  Mr.  Greeley  said  to  us  something  like  this  :  — 

" '  There  are  very  many  places  in  the  world  you  can  go  to  and  get 
drunk,  but  there  are  very  few  places  that  you  can  go  to  where  you 
are  obliged  to  keep  sober.  It  is  very  easy  to  get  drunk,  but  it  is 
very  hard  to  stay  sober.  Now,  there  are  men,  the  husbands  of  good 
women,  who  drink,  and  their  wives  want  to  save  them ;  there  are 
intelligent  young  men  of  great  promise,  whose  fathers  and  mothers 
want  to  save  them  from  the  evil  influences  of  drink  ;  there  are  sisters 
who  have  brothers  they  want  to  save.  Now,  I  desire  and  am  earnest 
for  humanity's  sake,  that  you  people  build  up  an  asylum  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  under  new  circumstances,  where 
you  shall  live  by  irrigation  and  flourish  in  a  new  clime,  where  a  man 
can  go  and  cannot  get  drunk.  There  are  many  men  who  desire  such 
a  place.  As  there  are  thousands  of  places  where  men  can  get  drunk, 
let  us  have  one  place  where  they  cannot  get  drunk.  What  I  desire 
in  this  matter  is  not  for  myself,  but  for  humanity.' 

"  And  as  he  spoke,  the  tears  came  into  the  eyes  of  that  great 
head,  and  the  deepest  emotion  swelled  that  great  heart.  All  com- 
mercial reasons,  all  other  objections,  all  other  objects  floated  from 
my  vision,  and  Mr.  Meeker,  rising  from  the  table  at  which  we  were 
sitting,  said,  '  That  is  the  platform.'  Mr.  Greeley  looked  over  to  me 
and  said  :  '  Mr.  Cameron,  what  do  you  say  ?  We  desire  yo^u  to  go 
with  us,  and  we  want  you  to  become  imbued  with  this  spirit  oi 
humanity.'  I  arose,  reached  my  hand  across  the  table,  and  took 
his  extended  hand  in  mine,  and  with  weeping  eyes  we  swore 
together  that  we  would  devote  our  lives  to  this  purpose,  to  this  ideal, 
to  this  inspiration,  until,  with  .the  aid  of  God  Almighty,  it  should 
prove  a  success. 

"  Of  the  struggle,  the  hardships,  the  grievances,  personal  disasters, 
etc.,  of  the  early  colonists,  I  have  nothing  to  say  to-day.  It  is  suf- 
ficient for  us  to  know  that  the  ideal,  the  vision,  has  become  a  realiza- 
tion. It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  all  the  bloom  has  ripened  into 
golden  fruit.  To-day  we  have  here  the  most  peaceable,  the  most 
prosperous,  the  most  law-abiding,  the  most  conscientious,  the  most 
intelligent,  the  most  earnest,  the  largest-hearted  people  which  God 
ever  brought  together.  And  the  people  all  over  the  State  have 
drawn  inspiration  from  it. 

"  Longmont  Colony  followed  it ;  Fort  Collins  followed  it ;  Colorado 
Springs  followed  it  ;  Manitou  followed  it  ;  the  development  of  the 
railway  system  followed  it  ;  the  development  of  the  natural  resources 


370  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

of  Colorado  followed  it.  The  inspiration  which  has  made  Colorado 
what  she  is,  is  in  a  great  measure  attributed  to  the  influences  of 
Union  Colony.  Such  men  as  Shattuck,  Nettleton,  Eaton,  and  Pabor, 
who  have  done  so  much  for  our  State,  are  the  outgrowth  of  this 
colony.  The  inspiration  which  this  colony  has  given,  and  which 
extends  like  a  halo  over  the  tops  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  is 
seen  even  to  the  sea  and  all  over  the  continent  to-day,  is  immeasur- 
able. To  Mr.  Greeley,  Mr.  Meeker,  and  all  those  devoted  spirits  who 
started  this  conception  and  stayed  with  it  all  through  its  trials, 
troubles,  and  tribulations,  there  is  nothing  but  glory,  honor,  and 
success,  and  to  them  be  praise  for  evermore  for  the  great  work  they 
have  accomplished." 

The  call  for  the  first  meeting  in  New  York,  written  by  Mr.  Meeker, 
contained  the  following  paragraphs  :  — 

"  I  propose  to  unite  with  proper  persons  for  the  establishment  of 
a  colony  in  Colorado  Territory,  and  the  persons  with  whom  I  would 
be  willing  to  associate  must  be  temperance  men,  and  men  ambitious 
to  establish  good  society. 

"  My  plan  would  be  to  make  the  settlement  almost  wholly  in  a  vil- 
lage ;  all  the  lots  of  the  village  should  be  sold,  that  funds  may  be  ob- 
tained for  making  improvements  for  the  common  good,  such  as  the 
building  of  a  church,  a  town  hall,  a  schoolhouse,  and  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  library.  Adjoining  the  village,  the  outlying  tracts  could  be 
apportioned,  by  lot  or  otherwise,  in  size  according  to  distance  from  the 
village  centre.  Some  of  the  advantages  of  settling  in  a  village  will 
be  easy  access  to  schools  and  public  places,  meetings,  lectures,  and 
the  like,  and  society  can  be  had  at  once. 

"  I  make  the  point  that  two  important  objects  are  to  be  gained  by 
such  a  colony.  First,  schools,  refined  society,  and  all  the  advantages 
of  an  old  country  will  be  secured  in  a  few  years,  while  on  the  con- 
trary, where  settlements  are  made  by  the  old  methods,  people  are 
obliged  to  wait  twenty,  forty,  or  more  years.  Second,  with  free 
homesteads  as  a  basis,  with  the  sale  of  lots  for  the  general  good,  the 
greatly  increased  values  of  real  estate  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  all 
the  people,  not  for  schemers  and  speculators.  In  the  success  of  this 
colony,  a  model  will  be  presented  for  settling  the  remainder  of  the 
vast  territory  of  our  country. 

"  Third,  whatever  professions  and  occupations  enter  into  the  forma- 
tion of  an  intelligent,  educated,  and  thrifty  community,  should  be 
embraced  by  this  colony,  and  it  should  be  the  object  to  exhibit  all 
that  is  best  in  modern  civilization.  In  particular  should  moral  and 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  371 

religious  sentiments  prevail,  for  without  these  qualities  man  is  nothing. 
At  the  same  time,  tolerance  and  liberty  should  also  prevail. 

"  One  thing  more  is  equally  important.  Happiness  and  wealth 
and  the  glory  of  a  state  spring  from  the  family,  and  it  should  be  an 
aim  and  ambition  to  preserve  the  family  pure  in  all  its  relations,  and 
to  labor  with  the  best  efforts  life  and  strength  can  give  to  make  the 
home  comfortable,  to  beautify  and  adorn  it,  and  to  supply  it  with 
whatever  will  make  it  attractive  and  loved." 

"Temperance,  Education  and  Religion"  were  the  three  pillars  cf 
the  colony  from  the  start.  How  nobly  the  colonists  adhered  to  their 
purpose  to  provide  the  best  schools  for  their  children,  appears  from 
the  following  illustration  of  their  first  school-building,  erected  when 
the  colony  was  but  three  years  old,  at  an  expense  of  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars.  Two  ward  schoolhouses,  in  addition,  cost  ten 
thousand  dollars  each. 

Few  towns  or  cities  in  the  East  can  boast  a  more  elegant  school- 
building  than  this.  It  is  built  of  brick,  and  is  provided  with 
all  the  modern  improvements  of  a  first-class  schoolhouse,  including 
chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus,  laboratory,  library,  etc.,  etc. 
From  personal  observation  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that,  within  it 
are  schools,  including  High  School,  that  are  equal  in  thoroughness 
and  discipline  to  the  best  schools  of  New  England.  Teachers  are 
paid  nearly  twice  the  salary  paid  in  Massachusetts  towns  of  like 
population  and  wealth,  thereby  securing  the  best  teachers  to  be 
found  east  or  west. 

The  grounds  are  ample  and  beautiful,  occupying  a  whole  block, 
with  Lincoln  Park  in  front.  Part  of  the  grounds  are  laid  out  in 
delightful  lawns,  which  irrigation  keeps  green  and  velvety.  The 
remaining  portion  furnishes  a  convenient  play-ground  for  both  sexes ; 
and  the  whole  is  beautified  with  thrifty  shade  trees.  A  janitor  is 
employed,  on  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars  annually,  to  take  care 
of  the  building  and  grounds.  He  must  be  present  when  the  school 
is  in  session,  to  respond  promptly  to  the  calls  of  teachers  and  pupils 
for  his  services.  He  sweeps  the  whole  building  daily,  washes  the 
stairways  and  halls  weekly,  and  keeps  the  interior  as  neat  and  clean 
as  a  good  housekeeper  does  her  home.  With  a  population  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred,  Greeley  has  been  appropriating  an  average 
of  ten  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  its  schools  for  several  years, 
—  nearly  twice  as  much  as  the  towns  of  Massachusetts  of  the  same 
size  expend  upon  their  schools.  At  the  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the 
colony,  Hon.  J.  C.  Shattuck,  then  a  resident  of  Greeley,  and  super- 


372 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


HIGH    SCHOOL    BUILDING. 


intendent  of  the  schools  of  Colorado,  called  attention  to  the  following 
significant  fact :  — 

"When,  in  the  unfinished  room  of  that  schoolhouse  on  the  I3th 
of  October,  1873,  the  citizens  voted  to  instruct  the  district  board  to 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


373 


raise  as  a  special  tax  for  that  year,  in  the  midst  of  their  poverty,  with 
scarce  a  thousand  men  here  who  were  not  living  on  the  means  they 
brought  with  them  ;  under  such  circumstances,  they  instructed  their 
district  board  to  raise  by  special  tax  for  the  purpose  of  building  and 
carrying  on  of  schools  through  the  year,  the  sum  of  eight  thousand 
dollars.  That,  put  on  to  the  regular  school  tax  for  that  year,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  meant  a  total  school  tax  that  year  of  five  per  cent. 
If  that  is  not  a  record  of  which  any  people  might  be  proud,  then  show 
me  another.  They  voted  it  themselves,  paid  it  themselves,  and  with- 
out a  murmur ;  and  as  I  think  of  it,  and  think  of  who  these  people 
were,  of  their  indomitable  spirit,  their  proud  independence,  I  can 
imagine  very  easily  what  a  rebellion  had  been  here,  if  any  power 
above  us  had  ordered  a  tax  of  five  per  cent  that  year ;  but  we  did  it 
ourselves  and  paid  it,  and  finished  our  school-building,  now  the  pride 

of  the  city,  and  kept  our  school 
going.  That  spirit,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  is  a  prouder  legacy 
and  richer  endowment  than  any 
people  ever  had  in  dollars  and 
cents." 

It  is  the  policy  in  the  New 
West  to  erect  commodious,  sub- 

"fBBJ««4*iMft_^^fflS^«^*^|  stantial,  and    handsome  school- 
L^^  lf*"~ -~-~~r~'~  ^^-^       I  buildings  in  the  outset.     It    is 

'  FIRST  PLACE  OF  WORSHIP"  deemed    both    economical    and 

wise  to  build  them  for  a  gen- 
eration, or  longer.  Hence,  on  approaching  many  Western  towns,  the 
traveller  beholds  a  large,  elegant,  brick  edifice,  attractive  beyond  all 
other  structures  in  the  place  ;  and  he  soon  learns  to  say  :  "  That  is  the 
schoolhouse."  But  the  policy  is  otherwise  in  erecting  houses  of  wor- 
ship. With  their  limited  means,  it  is  economic  to  provide  temporary 
places  of  worship  at  first.  Hence,  for  ten  years,  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Greeley  worshipped  "on  the  spot  where  the  first  public  relig- 
ious service  in  the  colony  was  held  in  an  adobe  building  occupied  at 
first  as  a  hotel,  and  called  the  '  Park  House.' '  Now  the  society  occu- 
pies an  attractive  house  of  worship,  erected  at  an  expense  of  seven  or 
eight  thousand  dollars.  The  city  contains  six  houses  of  worship  at 
present,  —  Congregational,  Presbyterian,  United  Presbyterian,  Bap- 
tist, Methodist,  and  Episcopal,  all  of  them  worthy  of  the  service  to 
which  they  are  dedicated.  The  Unitarians  worship  in  a  hall. 

The  above  cut  represents  the  first  building  in  which  religious  wor- 


374 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


ship  was  maintained.  It  was 
an  old  building  removed  from 
Cheyenne.  Lumber  had  to  be 
hauled  thirty  or  forty  miles, 
so  that  the  purchase  and  re- 
moval of  this  building  proved 
a  godsend  to  the  pioneers.  It 
was  used  for  a  boarding-house, 
freight-house,  and  public  hall. 
Here  all  secular  and  religious 
meetings  were  held.  Bustle 
and  confusion  reigned  within 
it  through  the  week  ;  but  on 
Sunday  morning,  trunks,  bales, 
and  packages  were  arranged  for 
seats,  and  the  people  gathered  for  worship.  Subsequently  it  was  con- 
verted into  a  schoolhouse,  and  was  so  used  until  the  elegant  new 
schoolhouse  was  completed,  when  it  was  converted  into  a  livery  stable, 
to  which  purpose  it  has  been  devoted  ever  since.  In  those  early  days, 


FIRST  HOTEL. 


LAST  HOTEL 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE,  375 

when  it  was  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  it  was  called  "  Hotel  de 
Comfort."  Without  it  the  hardships  of  the  pioneers  would  have 
been  largely  multiplied. 

The  two  cuts  on  page  374,  by  contrast,  show  the  difference  between 
then  and  now.  A  shelter  only  was  demanded  in  1870;  now,  conven- 
ience, elegance,  luxury.  The  new  public  house  is  called  "The 
Oasis,"  and  was  erected  at  an  expense  of  eighty  thousand  dollars, 
thirteen  years  after  the  "  Greeley  House  "  offered  only  poor  shelter 
to  wayfarers.  Several  other  hotels,  less  pretentious  than  "  The  Oasis," 
though  far,  far  in  advance  of  the  "  Greeley  House,"  are  found  in  the 
city.  The  colony  purchased  more  than  seventy  thousand  acres  of 
land ;  nine  thousand  acres  of  the  Denver  Pacific  Railway  Company, 
for  thirty-one  thousand  dollars  ;  two  thousand  five  hundred  acres  of 
individuals,  for  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars  ;  and  sixty  thousand 
acres  of  the  United  States  Government.  For  irrigation,  a  ditch  was 
dug  around  the  whole  tract,  taking  water  from  the  Cache  de  Poudre 
River.  Herds  of  cattle  grazed  upon  these  plains,  so  that  the  farms  of 
the  colonists  must  be  protected  by  fences.  But  many  of  them  had  spent 
their  last  dollar  when  this  stubborn  fact  confronted  them.  For  this  rea- 
son, the  colony  decided  to  put  a  wire  fence  around  the  whole 
tract  -(more  than  fifty  miles  of  fence),  thus  protecting  all,  at  the 
public  expense.  Each  man  paid  jive  dollars  for  current  expenses 
when  he  joined  the  colony,  and,  held  subject  to  the  call  of  the  Treas- 
urer, one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  land. 

The  town  is  laid  out  in  squares,  the  streets  being  one  hundred  feet 
wide,  including  sidewalks  twelve  feet  wide  on  each  side.  Both  sides 
of  each  street  are  lined  with  shade  trees  ;  and  on  one  side  of  each 
street,  also,  is  an  irrigating  ditch,  dispensing  its  fresh,  pure  water,  to 
make  the  vegetation  green  and  cheerful.  The  town  has  a  hundred 
miles  of  irrigating  canals.  It  is  appropriately  called  the  "  Garden 
City." 

The  following  illustration  represents  one  of  the  several  fine  busi- 
ness blocks  which  are  an  ornament  to  the  town.  It  was  erected  at  an 
expense  of  nearly  eighty  thousand  dollars.  The  demand  for  such 
structures  may  be  learned  from  the  following  statement  of  a  Tribune 
(Denver)  correspondent,  who  collected  the  facts  and  statistics  with 
great  care  for  publication  :  — 

"  Few  cities  of  its  age  and  size  have  attained  the  world-wide  repu- 
tation of  Greeley.  During  the  year  (1885)  two  very  fine  brick  blocks 
have  been  erected  on  Main  Street  :  one  by  the  First  National  Bank, 
costing  $40,000 ;  the  other,  by  Hunter  &  West,  bankers,  costing 


376 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


$60,000.  Last  year  Mr.  Hunter  also  built  a  magnificent  three-story 
brick  block  opposite  the  First  National  Bank,  in  which  is  located  the 
Post  Office  and  the  Masonic  Hall. 

"  Greeley  also  boasts  of  a  well-organized  fire  department,  with  a 
steam  fire-engine,  and  a  military  company  numbering  sixty-two.  The 
latter  has  the  finest  armory  in  the  State,  and  a  drill-room  47  X  112  in 
the  new  Hunter  block. 


BUSINESS    BLOCK. 


"The  Electric  Light  Company  have  their  plant,  costing  $15,000, 
nearly  completed,  and  Greeley  will  soon  be  lighted  with  electricity. 
Six  artesian  wells,  depth  1,200  feet,  supply  the  town  with  fine  drink- 
ing-water. A  large  library,  containing  3,000  volumes,  has  been 
established  during  the  year.  A  system  of  drainage  and  sewerage 
has  been  adopted  by  the  Town  Board,  and  the  tiling  is  now  being 
laid,  ten  to  fifteen  feet  deep.  There  are  eight  physicians  and  ten 
lawyers  in  Greeley,  who  have  a  healthy  community  and  an  empty 
jail  for  their  encouragement. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  377 

"The  following  is  a  list  of  Greeley's  business  houses,  with  the 
amount  of  business  done  during  the  year  :  — 

"Five  agricultural  implement  dealers,  $130,000;  3  bookstores  and 
music  dealers,  $45,000 ;  I  bakery,  $6,000;  5  blacksmiths,  $15,000; 
10  building  contractors,  $200,000;  3  barbers,  $7,000;  i  business 
college,  27  pupils;  3  clothing  dealers,  $100,000;  5  confectioners, 
$15,000;  3  coal  dealers,  $30,000;  3  carriage  and  wagon  dealers, 
$20,000;  i  candy  manufacturer,  $3,500;  2  dentists,  $4,000;  3  drug 
stores,  $35,000;  4  dry  goods,  boots  and  shoes,  $145,000;  6  eating 
houses,  $20,000;  i  elevator,  $200,000;  2  flouring  mills,  $250,000;  2 
feed  stores,  $10,000;  2  furniture  dealers,  $20,000;  i  gunsmith, 
$1,500;  7  groceries  and  provisions,  $200,000  ;  3  general  merchandise, 
$85,000;  2  hardware,  $50,000;  3  harness  makers,  $20,000;  4  hotels, 
$55,000  ;  3  jewellers,  $20,000  ;  2  lime  dealers,  $7,000  ;  2  lumber  yards, 
$70,000;  2  liveries,  $5,000;  2  merchant  tailors,  $10,000;  5  milliners, 
$20,000  ;  5  meat  markets,  $60,000  ;  2  photographers,  $4,000  ;  2  prod- 
uce dealers,  $150,000;  3  paint  shops,  $15,000;  i  sash  factory, 
$20,000;  i  sewing-machine  office,  $5,000;  4  shoe  shops,  $10,000;  2 
tobacco  dealers,  $7,000 ;  i  violin  maker,  $2,000 ;  i  wagon  maker, 
$5,000.  Total,  $2,080,500. 

"  In  addition  to  the  above,  there  are  three  banks,  whose  aggrega- 
ted capital  is  $205,000,  with  a  deposit  account  of  $375,000.  The  real 
estate  agents  made  sales  amounting  to  $180,000.  The  Building  and 
Loan  Association,  capital  stock,  $200,000,  organized  in  1883,  has 
cleared  up  to  the  present  time,  three  years,  forty  per  cent  upon  its 
investments.  The  three  brick-yards  made  about  1,000,000  bricks  each, 
during  the  year,  all  of  which  were  used  in  Greeley.  Hawks  &  Tuck- 
ermon's  Creamery,  about  three  miles  from  Greeley,  made  over  15,000 
pounds  of  butter  during  the  past  year.  The  life  and  fire  insurance 
companies  have  written  policies  amounting  to  nearly  $1,000,000  dur- 
ing the  year  1885. 

"  The  market  gardeners  and  fruit  growers  have  organized  a  stock 
company  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  canning  factory  in  Greeley 
the  coming  season.  The  gardens  about  Greeley  are  very  productive, 
profitable,  and  among  the  chief  attractions  to  strangers,  Gardenside 
Avenue  and  Eighth  Street,  upon  which  they  are  mostly  located,  form- 
ing the  principal  boulevard  of  the  town. 

"  The  financial  condition  of  the  town  is  good,  it  being  out  of  debt, 
and  its  warrants  at  par." 

From  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  Greeley's  Board  of  Trade  for 
1885  we  extract  the  following  :  — 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"There  are  no  saloons,  and  consequently  we  have  no  need  of  a 
police  force.  One  marshal  is  appointed  by  the  board,  and  during 
1885  he  made  no  arrests.  This,  in  a  city  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred population,  is  remarkable.  His  services  for  the  year  cost  eighty- 
three  dollars. 

"  The  business  houses  would  be  an  honor  to  a  city  much  larger, 
few  cities  having  finer  stores  or  more  complete  stocks  of  goods.  All 
these,  coupled  with  a  community  of  intelligent,  progressive  citizens, 
make  a  city  that  we  are  proud  of,  and  to  which  we  invite  those  who 
desire  to  settle  in  a  home  where  the  temptations  of  liquor  and  gam- 
bling are  not  thrown  around  the  young ;  where  the  sun  shines  three 
hundred  and  fifty  days  in  the  year ;  where  we  never  have  a  cyclone  ; 
where  the  air  is  dry  and  pure  ;  and,  best  of  all,  where  the  beautiful 
Rockies,  with  their  snow-clad  summits,  are  always  in  full  view  for 
over  one  hundred  miles. 

"Over  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  were  spent  in  1885 
in  improvements,  besides  a  system  of  sewerage  which  was  built  by 
the  city.  The  schools  are  not  surpassed  by  any,  east  or  west. 

"The  total  number  of  pounds  of  produce,  potatoes,  flour,  and 
grain,  shipped  from  the  Greeley  station  in  1884,  was  26,375,580. 
This  in  connection  with  hay  makes  a  showing  equalled  by  few  cities 
of  its  size  in  the  West." 

The  reader  may  be  curious  to  know  how  the  Colony  succeeded 
with  its  temperance  platform.  In  the  East,  many  of  the  leaders  of 
thought  and  enterprise  believe  that  a  liquor-shop  is  indispensable  to 
civilization  ;  but  here  is  a  town,  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
proposing  'to  get  on  without  even  one.  How  could  this  be  done? 
From  a  paper  read  before  the  "Colorado  Historical  Society,"  by 
Hon.  W.  E.  Pabor,  we  extract  the  following:  — 

"May  12,  1870,  in  executive  committee,  a  resolution  was  adopted 
requiring  the  insertion,  in  all  deeds  to  be  given,  of  the  following 
clause:  'That  it  is  a  part  of  the  consideration  in  this  deed,  that 
intoxicating  liquors  shall  not  be  manufactured  or  sold  as  a  beverage, 
nor  shall  gambling  of  any  kind  be  permitted  on  the  premises 
conveyed.' ' 

Five  months  thereafter  the  first  test  occurred,  of  which  Mr.  Pabor 
speaks  thus :  — 

"  October  23  was  the  Sabbath  day,  and  therefore  a  day  for  good 
deeds.  It  had  been  rumored  during  the  preceding  week  that  a  saloon 
had  been  opened  on  a  ranch  adjoining  the  town  in  which  the  Colony 
owned  a  half-interest.  At  the  close  of  the  morning  service  in  Colony 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


379 


hall,  we  were  requested  to  remain,  and  a  brief  statement  of  the  case 
was  made.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  visit  the  saloon-keeper 
and  report.  About  two  hundred  persons  accompanied  the  committee. 
The  keeper,  of  course,  asserted  the  rights  he  had  obtained  from  the 
parties  owning  the  other  half-interest  in  the  land  and  building,  but 
at  last  a  compromise  was  effected  by  which  the  liquor  was  to  be 
removed  to  a  place  of  safety,  while  the  matter  was  investigated.  But 
parties  present  who  did  not  endorse  such  action  soon  fomented  a 

disturbance,  and  shortly  the 
building  was  found  to  be  on 
fire  in  two  or  three  places. 
The  rum,  the  card-tables,  the 
decanters,  the  dice-boxes,  etc., 
were  speedily  hustled  out,  and 
a  line  of  men  with  water  buck- 
ets formed  to  the  river  just 
below ;  but  the  pails  were 
leaky  and  the  men  unskilful, 
and  so  the  building  burned 
down.  The  affair  culminated 
in  the  justice's  court,  but  no 
one  knoweth,  even  unto  this 
day,  if  the  shanty  was  set  on 
fire  or  it  was  a  case  of  spon- 
taneous combustion." 

At  this  time  the  colony 
numbered  one  thousand,  and 
three  hundred  and  fifty-two 
houses  had  been  built,  or  were 
in  process  of  building. 
The  name  of  Nathan  C.  Meeker,  first  president  of  the  Greeley 
Colony,  has  appeared  in  the  foregoing  pages.  He  was  a  philanthro- 
pist and  noble  man,  and  his  tragic  end  deserves  mention  here.  He 
was  appointed  Indian  agent  to  the  White  River  Agency,  and  accepted 
the  trust  solely  on  account  of  his  desire  to  benefit  the  Indians.  He 
thought  that  he  could  readily  teach  them  how  to  till  the  soil,  whereby 
to  support  themselves,  and,  at  the  same  time,  establish  schools  among 
them  that  would  insure  their  intellectual  growth.  He  thought  they 
might  be  made  industrious,  intelligent,  and  virtuous.  But,  alas  !  Mr. 
Meeker  was  massacred  by  the  treacherous  men  whom  he  sought  to 
benefit,  en  the  twenty-third  day  of  September,  1879.  The  Indians 


MEEKER  AND  HIS  HOME. 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

were  unwilling  to  work,  and  grew  restive  under  the  white  man's  rule. 
Naturally  lazy  and  indolent,  they  became  dissatisfied  with  their  ben- 
efactor and  his  plans.  After  an  interview  with  Mrs.  Meeker,  and 
carefully  studying  the  history  of  the  barbarous  affair,  we  believe 
that  these  lazy,  thievish,  treacherous  Utes,  properly  called  savages, 
murdered  Mr.  Meeker,  because  he  persisted  in  teaching  them  indus- 
try and  virtue. 

Colonel  Steele  was  at  the  agency  on  the  roth  of  September,  and 
witnessed  so  much  excitement  among  the  Indians,  that  he  suggested 
to  Mr.  Meeker's  secretary  that  the  redskins  were  bent  on  mischief. 
After  this  conversation  with  the  secretary,  "  Ute  Jack"  approached 
the  Colonel,  and  said  :  — 

"  What  white  man  want  ?  White  man  go.  Indian  want  white 
man  go.  Indian  no  like  plough  and  go  school.  Meeker  all  time  say 
'work  and  go  school.' 

"  Presently  another  Indian  approached  him,  and  fired  off  his  '  white 
man  go.' ' 

Colonel  Steele  had  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  the  massacre 
was  deliberately  planned  some  time  before  it  occurred  —  one  of  the 
most  heartless  and  hellish  butcheries  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of 
time.  The  following  account  of  it  by  Mrs.  Meeker  was  published  in 
the  New  York  Herald,  soon  after  her  release  from  captivity  :  - 

"  I  went  with  my  daughter  Josephine  to  the  White  River  agency, 
where  we  joined  my  late  husband  (the  agent)  July  17,  1878.  We  did 
not  like  the  site  of  the  old  agency,  as  it  was  in  a  canon.  The  altitude 
was  too  great  for  the  practice  of  agriculture,  and  the  winds  blew 
fiercely  and  constantly.  The  government,  therefore,  gave  permission 
to  Mr.  Meeker  to  move  the  agency  twenty  miles  further  down  the 
White  River  to  a  beautiful  valley,  where  the  grass  is  always  green, 
where  there  is  no  snow,  and  where  there  is  plenty  of  land  to  cultivate, 
and  timber  in  abundance. 

"  Trouble  began  when  the  agent  indicated  an  intention  of  plough- 
ing eighty  acres  of  land  lying  between  Douglass  Avenue  and  the 
river.  The  Indians  had  not  used  the  land  except  for  their  ponies  to 
run  on.  It  was  open  and  unoccupied.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  any 
dissatisfaction  about  the  matter,  the  agent  called  the  Indians  together 
and  settled  it  by  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  Indians 
to  plough.  Chief  Johnson  failed  to  attend  the  council,  and  when  the 
Utes  gave  their  permission  he  grew  angry,  and  it  was  his  son  who 
shot  at  the  ploughman.  Afterward  Johnson  said  he  was  'no  angry  '  ; 
but  back  of  all  this  there  were  signs  of  wickedness  and  secret  plot- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  381 

ting,  suspicious  movements,  increasing  rumors,  large  sales  of  ammu- 
nition, and  false  charges  that  the  agent  had  cut  down  the  rations. 
This  last  was  false.  The  government  had  reduced  or  changed  the 
issue  of  rations  for  all  the  Indians.  My  husband  gave  the  White 
River  Indians  regular  and  full  government  rations,  but  he  had  orders 
from  Washington  not  to  issue  rations  to  the  Uncompahgre,  Uintah, 
Arapahoe,  or  other  outside  visiting  Indians.  This  was  according  to 
his  official  instructions.  The  object  was  to  keep  the  Indians  from 
straying  from  the  reservation  and  wandering  around  the  country. 
The  Uncompahgre  Utes  complained  to  Ouray,  and  this  is  the  founda- 
tion for  the  statements  published  that  the  agent  withheld  their  sup- 
plies. All  the  White  River  Utes  proper  were  fed  according  to  law, 
and  those  who  worked  on  the  canal  received  double  rations,  extra 
blankets  and  shoes,  and  all  kinds  of  agency  goods  which  they  needed. 
An  Indian  woman  was  hired  to  cook  for  the  Indian  workmen,  and 
they  were  paid  fifteen  dollars  a  month,  cash,  for  working  on  their 
land. 

"  The  Indians  were  well  treated,  but  the  agent  did  not  propose  to 
have  them  take  charge  of  his  household  and  office,  and  dictate  to  him 
how  he  should  conduct  his  affairs.  He  would  not  tolerate  their  idle- 
ness and  insolence,  so  they  conspired  to  get  him  out  of  the  way. 
They  clamored  for  a  new  agent,  and  it  was  only  when  they  heard  of 
the  troops  coming  that  they  became  frightened  at  the  results  of  their 
work.  Jane,  the  woman  who  first  growled  about  the  ploughing, 
spoke  good  English.  After  we  were  captured,  she  said  :  — 

"'What  could  you  expect  ?  The  Indians  had  to  kill  the  whites, 
because  neither  they  nor  the  agent  would  do  as  the  Utes  told  them 
to  do.' 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  massacre  Douglass  came  to  the  agency 
and  spoke  of  the  soldiers  coming.  My  husband  said  :  — 

"  '  Let  them  come.  They  will  not  hurt  any  one.  But  we  will 
send  for  all  the  chiefs  and  head  captains,  and  hear  their  complaints, 
and  talk  the  matter  over.' 

"  Douglass  did  not  say  much,  and  went  away.  We  did  not  fear 
any  particular  danger,  though  on  Saturday,  three  days  before  the 
massacre-,  they  had  moved  their  tents  and  women  and  children  to  the 
wilderness.  The  Indian  Pauvitz  asked  me  on  Saturday,  Sunday,  and 
Monday,  if  I  was  afraid.  I  said,  'No.'  Pauvitz  was  the  husband  of 
Jane. 

"  I  was  in  the  kitchen  with  my  daughter,  washing  dishes,  about 
half-past  one  o'clock.  We  had  just  finished  dinner.  Some  of  the  In- 


382  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

dians  had  eaten  with  us,  and  Chief  Douglass  had  been  picking  around 
the  table  and  joking  with  my  daughter  Josephine  while  we  were 
washing  the  dishes.  There  came  a  volley  of  firearms  —  a  succession 
of  sharp  explosions.  It  was  startling,  and  I  knew  what  was  coming. 
My  daughter  and  I  looked  into  each  other's  faces.  Mrs.  Price,  who 
was  washing  clothes  at  the  door,  rushed  in,  exclaiming  :  — 

"  '  What  shall  we  do  ? ' 

"Josephine  said,  'Keep  all  together,'  and  the  girl  was  as  cool  as 
if  she  were  receiving  callers  in  a  parlor. 

"The  windows  were  shot  in.  Our  first  move  was  to  get  under  the 
bed  in  Josephine's  room  to  avoid  the  bullets,  which  were  whizzing 
over  our  heads.  Josephine  had  the  key  of  the  milk  house,  and  pro- 
posed to  go  there.  The  bullets  were  flying  like  hailstones,  and  we 
locked  ourselves  into  the  milk  house,  which  had  double  walls  filled  in 
with  adobe  clay,  and  there  was  only  one  little  window.  We  stayed 
there  all  the  afternoon,  and  heard  no  sounds  but  the  crash  of  guns. 
We  knew  all  the  men  were  being  killed,  and  expected  that  the  In- 
dians would  finish  the  day  with  the  butchery  of  the  women.  Frank 
Dresser  came  in  shot  through  the  leg.  He  killed  an  Indian  just  as 
we  let  him  into  the  milk  house. 

"  About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  firing  ceased  and  all  was 
still.  Suddenly  we  heard  the  low  crackling  of  flames,  and  smelt  smoke. 
Then  we  saw  it  coming  through  the  cracks  in  the  ceiling,  and  knew 
that  the  destruction  of  the  agency  buildings  had  begun. 

"  While  in  the  building  we  barely  whispered,  and  tried  to  keep 
Mrs.  Price's  babies  still.  As  the  fire  was  increasing  we  left  the  milk 
house  cautiously,  and  Josephine  reconnoitered  the  enemy. 

"  '  It  is  a  good  time  to  escape,'  she  said.  '  The  Indians  are  busy 
stealing  agency  goods.' 

"  We  went  around  in  front  of  the  agent's  office,  and  found  the 
doors  open  and  things  undisturbed,  except  that  some  of  my  husband's 
clothing  lay  on  the  front  stoop.  We  saw  no  one,  living  or  dead,  and 
no  sign  of  any  one  having  been  killed.  We  ran,  in  a  line  with  the 
buildings,  toward  the  sage  brush,  so  as  to  keep  the  buildings  between 
us  and  the  Indians,  who  were  at  the  warehouse  pulling  out  the  goods  ; 
but  we  had  not  gone  far  before  we  were  discovered,  and  the  Indians 
made  for  us,  firing  as  they  ran.  The  bullets  fell  all  around  us,  and 
one  struck  me  on  the  thigh,  ploughing  through  the  flesh,  just  under 
the  skin.  It  stung  me  like  a  wasp,  and  I  thought  it  time  to  drop. 
I  fell  to  the  ground.  The  Indians  captured  Josephine  and  Mrs. 
Price  first,  as  they  were  behind  me,  with  Mrs.  Price's  babies. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  383 

"  You  have  my  daughter's  account  of  her  experience.  A  chief, 
whose  name  I  could  never  learn,  came  to  me  and  said  he  was  '  heap 
sorry.'  He  asked  me  if  I  could  get  up.  I  said  '  Yes.'  He  then  asked 
me  if  I  would  go  with  him.  I  said  'Yes.'  He  said  he  was  'heap 
mad ;  soldier  killed  Indian  ; '  he  saw  them  shoot,  and  he  was  '  heap 
mad.'  They  would  'no  kill  women  and  children.'  The  Indians  had 
so  ordered  it.  He  said  he  would  take  me  to  Chief  Douglass'  house, 
and  asked  if  I  had  any  whiskey.  I  said,  '  No  '  ;  and  he  asked  if  I  had 
any  money.  I  answered  that  there  was  some  in  my  room  in  the  build- 
ing then  on  fire.  The  Indian  told  me  to  get  it  and  he  would  wait  for 
me.  He  was  afraid  to  go  into  the  burning  building.  I  got  the  money, 
the  Indian  urging  me  to  hurry  up,  as  he  had  a  great  way  to  go  that 
night.  We  went  to  Douglass'  camp,  and  the  Indian  made  me  count 
the  money.  There  were  thirty  dollars.  The  Indian  took  it  and  gave 
it  to  Chief  Douglass.  I  had  two  silver  dollars,  and  Douglass  gave 
them  to  the  Indian  who  captured  me.  The  Indian  then  went  away. 
I  told  Douglass  that  I  must  have  some  blankets.  He  sent  an  Indian 
named  Thompson  to  the  burning  building  with  me,  and  I  got  a  hood, 
a  shawl,  and  one  blanket.  I  handed  around  bedding,  etc.,  among 
the  Indians,  rather  than  have  them  destroyed.  The  Indians  took 
them,  and  I  afterward  saw  them  in  camp,  when  I  was  suffering  for 
the  want  of  blankets  to  keep  me  warm.  I  told  Douglass  that  I  wanted 
my  medicine  and  my  'spirit  book.'  I  had  doctored  Douglass  and  his 
family.  He  said  '  Go  '  ;  so  I  went  back  a  second  time,  and  got  a  large 
copy  of  '  Pilgrim's  Progress '  and  a  box  of  medicines.  The  box  was 
so  heavy  that  an  Indian  refused  to  carry  it.  It  was  lost,  but  he  took 
the  book.  When  I  got  back  to  Douglass,  and  told  that  chief  the 
Indian  had  said  that  the  medicine  chest  was  too  heavy  to  carry, 
Douglass  looked  disappointed  and  sorrowful,  and  asked  :  — 

" '  Couldn't  you  have  split  the  box  a  little,  so  you  could  have 
brought  part  of  it  ? ' 

"  In  going  back  this  last  time  I  saw  the  body  of  my  husband 
stretched  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the  warehouse  ;  all  the  clothing 
was  gone  but  the  shirt.  The  body  was  not  mutilated.  The  arms 
were  extended  at  the  side  of  the  head.  The  face  looked  as  peaceful 
and  natural  as  in  life,  but  blood  was  running  from  the  mouth.  I 
stooped  to  kiss  him  ;  but  just  as  my  lips  were  near  his,  I  saw  an  In- 
dian standing  stone  still,  looking  at  me,  so  I  turned  and  Walked  away. 
Douglass  afterward  said  that  my  husband  was  shot  through  the  side 
of  the  head. 

"  Preparations  to  leave  immediately  were  made.     It  was  now  dark. 


384 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


and  Douglass  lost  no  time  in  getting  started.  Being  lame  from  hav- 
ing had  a  thigh  dislocated  three  years  ago,  and  not  being  used  to 
riding,  I  asked  to  ride  behind  Douglass.  The  moon  came  out  so 
clearly  that  the 
night  seemed 
like  day.  We 
forded  the  river 
and  trotted  off 
towards  the 
mountains  on 
the  south. 

"Douglass* 
breath  smelled 
strongly  of  whis- 
key. He  said  : 
'Your  father 
dead ;  I  had  a 
father  once ;  he 
too  is  dead. 
Agent  no  under- 
stand about  the 
fight  Indians 
make.' 

"The  other 
Indians  all  took 
out  bottles  of 
whiskey,  which 
they  held  up  be- 
tween their  eyes 
and  the  moon  as 
they  drank,  so  as 
to  see  how  much 
was  left.  Doug- 
lass, as  .he  rode 
along,  sang  what 
seemed  to  be  an 

obscene  song  to  a  pretty  melody  in  slow  measure.  When  he  had 
finished,  he  asked  how  I  liked  it.  My  limb  ached  so  terribly  that  I 
could  scarcely  sit  on  the  horse.  Douglass  held  it  a  while  ;  then  he 
strapped  it  in  a  kind  of  a  sling  to  his  saddle.  I  asked  if  I  could  see 
my  daughter,  Josephine.  Douglass  replied,  '  Yes.'  As  we  rode,  a 


CAPTIVITY  OF  MRS.  MEEKER  AND  DAUGHTER. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  385 

villanous-looking  Indian  trotted  alongside,  and  slapped  me  on  the 
shoulder,  and  asked  me  how  I  would  like  to  be  his  squaw,  and  made 
indecent  proposals.  Chief  Douglass  listened  and  laughed.  He  said 
the  Indian  was  an  Arapahoe,  and  I  would  kill  Utes  if  I  married  an 
Arapahoe. 

"We  left  the  trail,  and  came  to  a  little  canon  in  the  mountains, 
with  high  rocks  on  all  sides.  All  dismounted,  and  the  prisoners  were 
searched  by  the  Indians,  even  to  our  shoes  and  stockings.  They 
stole  my  pocket-book,  which  was  full  of  needles,  and  a  handkerchief ; 
but  they  gave  the  handerchief  back.  They  talked  indecently  to  us, 
and  made  shameful  proposals.  They  were  drunk,  and  their  conver- 
sation was  loud  with  ribaldry.  They  even  threatened  me  with  death 
if  I  did  not  submit  to  their  bestiality.  Fortunately  I  escaped  outrage, 
but  had  to  submit  to  terrifying  threats  of  violence  and  death.  Doug- 
lass went  through  the  burlesque  of  imitating  the  employees  in  keep- 
ing guard  at  the  agency.  He  mocked  the  soldiers,  walking  up  and 
down  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder,  and  sang. 

"  As  I  lay  on  the  ground,  not  knowing  when  I  should  be  butch- 
ered, I  thought  of  my  young  daughter  Josephine,  who  was  not  far 
away,  and  wondered  if  she  had  already  been  slaughtered.  My  face 
was  partly  covered,  but  suddenly  I  heard  Douglass'  voice.  I  turned 
and  saw  Chief  Douglass  standing  close  by  me,  with  the  muzzle  of  his 
gun  pointed  directly  at  my  face.  I  involuntarily  cried  out.  Jose- 
phine heard  me,  and  her  voice  came  out  of  the  night,  saying  :  — 

"  '  I  am  all  right,  mamma ;  don't  be  afraid  ! ' 

"  Douglass  lowered  his  gun,  raised  it  again,  and  took  aim.  I  said 
nothing  and  he  walked  away.  An  Indian  standing  near  said  :  — 

"  '  Douglass  no  hurt  you  ;  he  only  playing  soldier.' 

"  After  resting  for  half  an  hour  we  remounted  and  rode  until  mid- 
night, when  we  reached  the  Ute  women's  camp.  Douglass  ordered 
me  roughly  to  get  off  the  horse.  I  was  so  lame  and  in  such  pain 
that  I  told  him  I  could  not  move.  He  took  my  hand  and  pulled  me 
off,  and  I  fell  on  the  ground  because  I  could  not  stand.  An  Indian 
and  a  squaw  soon  came  and  helped  me  up,  and  led  me  to  a  tent. 
When  I  went  to  bed  Douglass  and  his  wife  covered  me  with  blankets, 
and  I  was  more  comfortable  that  night  than  at  any  other  time  during 
my  captivity.  Early  next  morning  Douglass  awoke  me,  saying  :  — 

"  '  Runner  just  come  ;  Indians  killed  heap  soldiers  ;  Douglass  go 
to  front ;  gone  five  days.'  He  said  I  must  stay  in  his  tent  and  wait 
until  he  returned. 

"  Douglass'  squaw  treated  me  very  well  for  one  or  two  days  ;  then 


386  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

she  began  to  ill-use  me,  and  gave  me  nothing  to  eat  for  one  day. 
While  Douglass  was  gone,  his  son-in-law  told  me  frightful  stories. 
He  said  the  Indians  '  no  shoot '  me,  but  would  stab  me  to  death  with 
knives.  One  squaw  went  through  the  pantomime  of  roasting  me 
alive  ;  at  least,  I  so  understood  it.  Josephine  told  me  that  it  was  only 
done  to  torment  me.  If  Douglass  had  got  killed,  I  would  probably 
have  been  punished.  A  row  of  knives  was  prepared  with  scabbards 
and  placed  in  the  tent  for  use.  Then  Douglass'  son-in-law,  Johnson, 
came  to  me  and  asked  if  I  had  seen  the  knives  being  fixed  all  day. 
I  said  '  Yes.'  He  replied  that  '  Indians  perhaps  stab  '  me,  and  '  no 
shoot '  me.  '  You  say  Douglass  your  friend  ;  we  see  Douglass  when 
come  back  from  the  soldiers.' 

"  Many  of  the  squaws  looked  very  sorrowful,  as  if  some  great 
calamity  were  about  to  happen  ;  others  were  not  kind  to  me  ;  and 
Freddie  Douglass,  the  chief's  son,  whom  I  had  taken  into  my  house 
at  the  agency  and  washed,  and  taught,  and  doctored,  and  nursed,  and 
made  healthy,  came  to  me  in  my  captivity  and  mocked  me  worse 
than  all  the  rest.  The  Douglass  blood  was  in  him,  and  he  was  bad. 
He  said  I  was  a  bad  squaw  and  an  old  white  squaw.  He  tried  to 
steal  the  old  wildcat  skin  that  I  slept  on,  and  stole  my  handker- 
chief while  I  was  asleep,  and  jeered  at  me  during  my  imprisonment. 

"  Douglass  returned  from  fighting  the  soldiers  on  Saturday  night. 
On  the  next  day  his  wife  went  back  to  the  agency  for  the  cabbages 
raised  by  the  cultivation  the  Indians  professed  so  much  to  despise. 
Douglass  was  morose  and  sullen,  and  had  little  to  say.  He  did  not 
seem  to  be  satisfied  with  the  military  situation,  but  thought  the  In- 
dians would  annihilate  the  soldiers.  Large  numbers  of  head  men 
and  captains  came  to  consult  Douglass.  They  were  in  and  out  most 
of  the  night,  making  speeches  and  discussing  things  in  general,  as 
though  the  fate  of  the  universe  depended  on  their  decision.  Doug- 
lass often  asked  us  where  the  agent  was.  I  said  that  I  did  not  know. 
Douglass  rejoined  that  neither  did  he  know.  Mrs.  Douglass  treated 
me  spitefully,  and  her  chief  was  not  much  better,  though  he  gave  me 
enough  to  eat.  When  he  was  gone  very  little  was  cooked. 

"  In  a  day  or  two  Johnson  became  very  cross,  and  early  one  morn- 
ing we  began  to  move  again.  It  was  a  very  long  and  terrible  jour- 
ney that  I  made  that  day.  I  rode  a  pony  with  neither  saddle  nor 
bridle  nor  stirrups.  There  was  only  a  tent-cloth  strapped  on  the 
horse's  back,  and  an  old  halter  to  guide  him  with.  It  was  the  most 
distressing  experience  of  my  life.  Not  a  single  halt  was  made,  and 
my  pain  was  so  great  that  the  cold  drops  stood  on  my  forehead.  I 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  387 

could  only  cling  to  the  pony  by  riding  astride.  We  travelled  rapidly 
over  mountains  so  steep  that  one  would  find  difficulty  in  walking  over 
them  on  foot.  The  dust  was  suffocating,  and  I  had  neither  water 
nor  dinner.  Josephine  and  Mrs.  Price  rode  ahead.  One  of  the 
mountains  was  so  steep  that  after  making  part  of  the  ascent,  Doug- 
lass' party  had  to  turn  back  and  go  around  it.  This  incident  shows 
what  hardships  delicate  women  on  bareback  horses  had  to  endure. 

"  We  reached  a  camping-ground  half  an  hour  after  dark  and 
pitched  our  tents  in  the  valley.  The  moon  was  small.  I  was  so  faint 
that  I  could  not  get  off  my  horse  nor  move  until  a  kind  woman  as- 
sisted me  to  the  ground.  I  was  too  ill  and  exhausted  to  eat,  and  I 
went  to  bed  without  any  supper.  We  stayed  at  this  place  several 
days.  As  the  soldiers  approached,  the  Indians  moved  further  south, 
at  intervals  of  two  or  three  days,  until  they  reached  the  pleasant 
meadows  on  Plateau  Creek,  below  Grand  River,  where  General 
Adams  found  us.  Before  we  reached  this  last  place  Douglass  per- 
mitted Josephine  to  come  to  see  me  every  day,  and  the  long  hours 
were  more  endurable.  The  courage  of  the  brave  girl  and  her  words 
of  hope  cheered  me  very  much.  My  life  would  not  have  been  safe 
had  it  not  been  for  her  influence  with  the  Indians.  She  could  speak 
some  of  their  language,  and  she  made  them  cease  terrifying  me  with 
their  horrible  threats  and  indecent  stories.  She  finally  forced  Doug- 
lass to  give  me  a  saddle,  so  that  the  last  days  of  journeying  I  had 
something  besides  a  bareback  horse  to  ride  upon.  It  gave  me  great 
joy  on  one  of  the  evenings  of  those  terrible  first  days  to  hear  her,  as 
we  passed  each  other  in  the  moonlight,  sing  out  cheerily  :  '  Keep  up 
good  courage,  mother ;  I  am  all  right.  We  shall  not  be  killed.' 

"  The  last  evenings  of  our  stay  were  devoted  to  songs  and  merry- 
making by  those  who  were  not  away  on  the  mountains  watching  the 
soldiers.  Mrs.  Price  joined  in  some  of  the  choruses,  because  it 
helped  us  and  made  the  Indians  more  lenient.  They  told  a  great 
variety  of  stories,  and  cracked  jokes  on  each  other  and  on  the  white 
men.  They  had  dances  and  medicine  festivals.  Notwithstanding 
these  hilarities,  however,  the  Indians  were  troubled  and  anxious 
about  the  troops.  Runners  were  constantly  coming  and  going.  The 
least  rumor  or  movement  of  the  soldiers  threw  the  Indians  into  a 
flutter.  Chief  Douglass  began  to  realize  the  peril  of  the  situation. 
Colorow  advised  them  to  go  no  further  south,  though  the  troops  were 
moving  down  from  the  north.  Better  fight  and  defend  their  camps, 
he  said,  than  retreat.  Chief  Ouray,  the  friend  of  the  whites,  did  not 
want  the  White  River  Utes  on  his  domain.  Douglass  spoke  of  the 


388  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEIV   WEST. 

agency  as  gone  forever.  He  said  it  would  have  to  be  built  up  again. 
The  Indians  had  lost  all ;  and  with  a  sigh,  he  exclaimed,  '  Douglass  a 
heap  poor  man  now.'  • 

"  When  he  had  time  he  fell  to  abusing  the  agent,  and  said  that  if 
he  had  kept  the  troops  away  there  would  have  been  no  war.  One 
day  I  was  told  that  a  white  man  named  Washington  would  come 
soon.  At  last  an  Uncompahgre  Ute  came  from  Chief  Ouray  and 
spoke  very  kindly  to  me,  and  as  he  sat  by  the  fire,  said,  '  To-morrow 
five  white  men  coming  and  some  Indians.' 

"Among  them  would  be  'Chicago  man  Sherman,  a  great  big 
peace  man.'  General  Adams  said  they  were  going  to  have  a  talk, 
and  the  captives  would  go  home.  The  Uncompahgre  said  that  a 
wagon  would  be  waiting  at  a  certain  place  below  the  plateau. 

"  Next  day  we  were  washing  at  the  creek,  when  Chief  Johnson 
came  and  said  that  a  big  council  was  to  be  held,  and  that  we  must 
not  come  up  to  the  tents  until  the  end  of  the  meeting.  Dinner  was 
sent  us  by  the  squaws,  and  we  began  to  have  hopes  of  release,  after 
being  deluded  with  false  predictions  many  times  before.  Finally, 
we  saw  the  foremost  of  the  white  men  on  the  top  of  the  hill  by 
the  tent. 

"When  I  first  saw  General  Adams,  I  could  not  say  a  word,  my 
emotion  was  so  great.  We  had  borne  insults  and  threats  of  death, 
mockery  and  ridicule,  and  not  one  of  us  had  shed  a  tear ;  but  the 
sight  of  General  Adams,  Captain  Cline,  Mr.  Sherman,  and  their  men 
was  too  much  for  me.  My  gratitude  was  greater  than  my  speech. 
We  owe  much  to  the  wife  of  Johnson.  She  is  Ouray's  sister,  and, 
like  him,  she  has  a  kind  heart.  Ouray  had  ordered  us  to  be  well 
treated,  and  that  we  should  be  allowed  to  go  home. 

"  The  council  was  a  stormy  one.  Various  opinions  prevailed.  The 
war-party  wanted  us  held  until  peace  should  be  made  between  the  In- 
dians and  the  government.  They  wanted  to  set  us  against  the  guilty 
murderers,  so  as  to  save  them  through  us.  After  a  few  hours  of  vio- 
lent speeches,  Mrs.  Johnson  burst  into  the  lodge  in  a  magnificent 
wrap,  and  demanded  that  the  captives  be  set  free,  war  or  no  war. 
Her  brother  Ouray  had  so  ordered  ;  and  she  took  the  assembly  by 
storm.  She  told  the  pathetic  story  of  the  captives,  and  advised  the 
Indians  to  do  as  Ouray  requested,  and  trust  to  the  mercy  of  the  gov- 
ernment. General  Adams  said  he  must  have  a  decision  at  once,  or 
he  would  have  to  leave.  That  settled  it,  and  we  were  set  free. 

"  Next  morning,  when  we  were  about  to  start  for  the  wagon,  which 
was  a  day's  journey  to  the  south,  Chief  Johnson,  who  was  slightly 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


389 


cool  toward  us,  threw  out  a  poor  saddle  for  me  to  ride  upon.  His 
wife  Susan  caught  sight  of  it,  and  was  furious.  She  flung  it  away, 
and  went  to  a  pile  of  saddles,  and  picked  out  the  best  one  in  the  lot. 
She  found  a  good  blanket,  and  gave  both  to  me.  Then  she  turned 
to  her  chief,  and  poured  out  her  contempt  with  such  effect  that  he 
was  glad  to  sneak  away. 

"  So  long  as  I  remember  the  tears  which  this  good  woman  shed 
over  her  children,  the  words  of  sympathy  which  she  gave,  the  kind- 
ness that  she  continually  showed  to  us,  I  shall  never  cease  to  respect 
her,  to  bless  the  goodness  of  her  brother  Ouray  —  the  Spanish-speak- 
ing chief  of  the  South.  I  trust  all  the  good  people  will  remember 
them." 


COLORADO   SPRINGS. 

Colorado  Springs  was  settled  in  1871  by  a  colony,  after  the  manner 
of  Greeley,  on  a  temperance  and  Christian  basis.  It  is  seventy-five 
miles  from  Denver,  by  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railway,  and  con- 
tains a  population  of  over  six  thousand. 

The  first  object  to  awaken  the  admiration  of  the  tourist,  on  alighting 

at  the  station, 
is  the  unique 
and  beautiful 
public  house, 
erected  at  an  ex- 
p  e  n  s  e  of  one 
hundred  and  fif- 
ty thousand  dol- 
lars. 

The  artistic 
design  and  har- 
monic u  s  ap- 
pointments of 
this  hotel  arrest 

the  attention  at  once.  Inside  it  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  outside.  All 
the  furniture  is  of  new  designs  and  of  the  finest  workmanship. 
No  two  rooms  are  furnished  alike.  Altogether,  it  is  a  gem  of  archi- 
tectural beauty. 

The  location  of  the  town  is  delightful,  situated  as  it  is  at  the  foot  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  a  magnificent  mesa,  spreading  out  to  the  east 
in  a  landscape  of  enchanting  loveliness.  Its  streets  are  one  hundred 


THE    ANTLERS. 


390 


MARl'ELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


feet  wide,  laid  out  at  right  angles,  and  lined  with  seven  thousand  cotton- 
wood  trees.  In  the  centre  is  a  fine  park,  and  in  every  direction  are  de- 
lightful drives  for  pleasure-seekers  and  invalids.  Hundreds  of  the 
latter  class  are  included  in  its  population,  drawn  there  in  the  pursuit 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  391 

of  health.  The  city  has  all  the  modern  improvements,  water-works, 
gas,  fire  department,  etc.  Drinking-water  is  brought  from  the  moun- 
tains, pure,  sparkling,  and  delicious.  Three  banks,  two  daily  papers, 
graded  schools,  a  college,  churches  of  different  denominations,  several 
hotels  and  large  boarding-houses,  the  telegraph  and  telephone,  are 
among  its  live  institutions.  "  Colorado  College  "  is  located  here, 
its  principal  building  being  an  imposing  structure,  built  of  pink 
volcanic  limestone,  at  an  expense  of  forty  thousand  dollars.  The 
institution  is  designed  to  furnish  both  sexes  with  the  facilities  of 
"  a  higher  education."  The  college  is  situated  on  a  spot  where 
antelopes  were  feeding  and  Indians  were  taking  scalps  a  few  years 
ago. 

"The  town  has  twenty-one  miles  of  trees,  upon  streets  a  hundred 
feet  wide,  or  avenues  of  one  hundred  and  forty.  Four  rows  of  trees 
upon  one  street  extend  two  miles.  Three  private  residences,  built  of 
stone,  cost  $80,000  ;  the  High  School  building,  $25,000 ;  the  Deaf, 
Dumb,  and  Blind  Asylum,  $25,000 ;  and  the  Opera  House,  $75,000. 
Pike's  Peak  rises  not  far  off,  and  smaller  mountains  plant  their  feet 
within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  town.  The  unsurpassed  splendors  of 
of  Glen  Eyrie,  Queen's  Canon,  the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  Manitou 
Mineral  Springs,  Ute  Pass,  and  Cheyenne  Canon  —  all  within  five 
miles  of  the  town  —  attract  tourists  from  all  the  world.  Any  one  of 
these  famous  resorts  would  make  the  fortune  of  a  watering-place  in 
the  East.  Professor  Hayden  says  that  he  never  saw  so  wonderful 
a  combination  of  grand  scenery  in  the  neighborhood  of  any  other 
medical  springs."1 


THE    PACIFIC    SLOPE. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  1848  was  the  making  of  California.  The 
growth  and  enterprise  of  its  two  large  cities  —  San  Francisco  and 
Sacramento  —  are  indeed  marvellous.  In  less  than  forty  years,  the 
population  of  the  former  has  grown  to  nearly  four  hundred  thousand, 
and  the  latter  to  nearly  fifty  thousand,  the  aggregate  of  their  busi- 
ness being  almost  fabulous.  The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  established  a  direct  route  for  travel  and  commerce,  by  the 
way  of  San  Francisco,  to  China,  South  America,  Sandwich  Islands, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  other  countries,  so  that  imports  from 
those  foreign  countries  can  be  transferred  from  the  carrying  vessels 

1  Rev.  E.  P.  Tenney. 


392  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

to  the  cars  of  the  Pacific  Railway,  and  taken  through  to  Boston 
without  change.  Fifty  large  steamships  now  sail  from  the  bay  of 
San  Francisco  to  different  parts  of  the  world,  while  hundreds  of  sail- 
ing-vessels are  kept  busy  in  the  mighty  commerce  which  has  sprung 
up  where  forty  years  ago  there  was  none. 

In  art,  science,  schools,  literature,  learning,  and  religion,  these 
young  cities  vie  with  the  most  famous  cities  of  the  East.  A  more 
intelligent,  enterprising,  refined,  and  prosperous  people  cannot  be 
found  on  the  globe.  Their  tact,  ability,  energy,  and  indomitable 
perseverance  are  stamped  upon  their  institutions. 

August  i,  1867,  San  Francisco  contained  a  population  of  131,000, 
about  40,000  of  them  being  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  under.  The 
number  of  school  children  at  that  time  under  fifteen  years  of  age  was 
34,710.  The  year  ending  June  30,  1867,  1,050  buildings  were  erect- 
ed in  the  city,  340  of  which  were  brick.  Cost  of  improvements  for 
the  same  time  was  $9,000,000.  The  sales  of  real  estate  for  the  first 
seven  months  of  1867  were  $10,000,000,  and  $1,000,000  were  laid  out 
on  the  streets  and  highways. 

That  the  spirit  of  enterprise  had  risen  to  high-water  mark  at  that 
time  is  manifest  from  the  elegance  and  cost  of  some  of  the  public 
buildings  erected,  as  follows  :  — 

Bank  of  California,  $275,000 ;  Mercantile  Library,  $i  10,000  ;  Mer- 
chant's Exchange,  $190,000;  Oriental  Buildings,  $200,000;  Blond- 
ing  and  Pringle's  Block,  $70,000 ;  Hayward's  Building,  $90,000 ; 
Savings  Union  Building,  $50,000;  Trinity  Church,  $75,000;  Mur- 
phy, Grant  &  Co.'s  Block,  $170,000;  enlargement  and  improvement 
of  Lick  House,  $175,000;  Dr.  Scudder's  Church,  $64,000;  Alms- 
house,  $60,000;  additions  to  Occidental  Hotel,  $125,000. 

Seven  years  previous  to  the  aforesaid  date,  the  school  population 
increased  three  hundred  per  cent  in  seven  years ;  and  during  the 
year  mentioned,  eight  commodious  schoolhouses  were  erected.  At 
that  time,  also,  there  were  seventy  private  educational  institutions,  in 
which  there  were  4,250  students.  That  religious  instruction  kept 
pace  with  the  .intellectual,  on  the  whole,  appears  from  the  fact  that, 
connected  with  the  many  churches,  were  about  fifty  Protestant  Sun- 
day-schools in  which  nearly  seven  thousand  pupils  were  taught,  and 
more  than  four  thousand  in  the  Catholic  and  Hebrew  schools.  The 
Sabbath-school  libraries  of  the  city  at  that  time  contained  37,927 
volumes. 

Their  generosity  and  large-mindedness  appear  in  their  noble  plans 
and  work  for  the  present  and  coming  generations.  Perhaps  in  no 


MARVELS   OF  ENTERPRISE. 


393 


way  can  we  exhibit  these  elements  of  character  so  plainly  as  we  can 
by  illustrations  of  their  public  works. 

"The  State  Capitol  is  one  of  the  first  objects  which  meets  the  eye 
when  approaching  Sacramento  from  the  east.  It  is  a  conspicuous 
landmark.  The  building  occupies  the  centre  of  four  blocks,  bounded 
by  Tenth  and  Twelfth,  and  by  L  and  N  Streets.  The  grounds  form 
three  terraces,  slightly  elevated  above  each  other,  and  connected  by 
easy  flights  of  steps.  They  are  regularly  laid  out,  and  covered  with  a 


STATE  CAPITOL. 

beautiful  sward,  closely  shaven  by  the  lawn-cutter.  They  are  inter- 
planted  with  shrubs  and  evergreen  trees.  The  outer  border  of  the 
lowest  terrace  is  studded  with  flowers.  Its  front  is  toward  Tenth 
Street,  and  is  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  Approaching  it  from 
this  point,  you  may  regard  it  as  a  great  central  building,  from  which 
rises  the  lofty  dome,  and  having  on  each  side  a  large  wing.  A  flight  of 
granite  steps,  twenty-five  feet  high  by  eighty  feet  in  width,  leads  to 
a  front  portico  of  ten  columns,  through  which,  and  a  large  hall,  the 


394 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


rotunda  of  seventy-two  feet  diameter  is  found  in  the  centre ;  and 
from  this,  in  each  story,  halls,  elegantly  arched,  extend  through  the 
front  and  wings, — the  state  offices  being  on  either  side.  Five  female 
figures  ornament  the  front  above  the  columns.  The  central  one  is 
standing ;  the  remaining  four  are  in  sitting  postures.  They  repre- 
sent war,  science,  agriculture,  and  mining.  The  wings,  forming  the 
flanks  of  the  building,  are  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  above  the 
first  or  basement  story.  The  north  and  south  flanks  of  the  building 
form,  respectively,  the  Assembly  and  Senate  Chambers,  the  former 
being  eighty-two  by  seventy-two  feet,  and  the  latter  seventy-two  by 
sixty-two  feet.  In  the  rear  centre,  a  circular  projection  of  sixty  feet 
diameter  forms  the  State  Library.  The  first  story,  of  twenty-five  feet, 


CITY    HALL. 


is  of  white  granite,  from  neighboring  quarries,  and  is  surmounted  by 
a  cornice  of  the  same.  Above  this,  the  body  of  the  main  dome  is 
surrounded  by  an  open  balcony,  which  is  supported  by  twenty-four 
fluted  Corinthian  columns  and  an  equal  number  of  pilasters.  Above 
this  balcony,  the  body  of  the  dome  is  supported  by  an  equal  number 
of  ornamental  pilasters.  From  these  rises  the  great  metallic  dome. 
From  the  top  of  this  dome,  in  turn,  rise  twelve  fluted  Corinthian  pil- 
lars, which  support  the  final  or  small  dome,  and  this  is  surmounted 
by  the  statue  of  California. 

"The  whole  interior  is  one  solid  mass  of  iron  and  masonry.  The 
dome  of  the  interior  rotunda,  which  is  of  iron  ornaments  and  brick- 
work, is  exceedingly  handsome.  The  panels  and  pedestals  under  the 
windows  are  of  the  beautiful  laurel,  —  well  known  in  California  for 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


395 


its  susceptibility  to  receive  a  high  polish.  All  the  first-floor  doors 
are  of  walnut,  with  laurel  panels ;  as  are  also  the  sashes  throughout 
the  building.  The  stories  are,  respectively,  twenty-one  feet  six 
inches,  twenty  feet,  and  eighteen  feet  in  height.  It  covers,  with  its 
angles,  nearly  sixty  thousand  surface  feet  of  ground,  and  measures 
over  one  thousand  two  hundred  lineal  feet  round  in  all  the  angles."  l 
San  Francisco  can  show  a  larger  number  of  costly  and  elegant 
public  buildings  than  most  of  Eastern  cities.  Perhaps  none  of  her 


PALACE  HOTEL. 


structures,  however,  awaken  the  pride  of  a  genuine  Franciscan  like 
the  famous  City  Hall,  which  cost  five  million  dollars.  The  illustra- 
tion shows  the  reader  that  it  was  planned  on  a  grand  scale,  and 
carried  to  completion  in  accordance  with  the  highest  rules  of  architec- 
ture. A  view  of  it  suggests  to  the  observer,  enterprise,  foresight, 
public  spirit,  and  generosity  on  the  part  of  tax-payers,  and  accommo- 
dation, convenience,  utility,  and  comfort  for  the  busy  officials  of  the 
city  government.  It  is  both  an  ornament  and  honor  to  the  city. 

1  Crofutt. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Palace  Hotel  is  the  largest  hotel  in  the  world.  It  occupies  one 
entire  block,  three  hundred  and  forty-four  by  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  feet.  It  is  seven  stories  high  (one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet).  It  is 
built  in  the  most  substantial  manner.  The  foundation-walls  are 
twelve  feet  thick,  —  all  others  ranging  from  one  and  one-half  to  four 
and  one-half  feet  in  thickness.  "The  foundation-walls,  at. their  base, 
are  built  with  inverted  arches.  All  exterior,  interior,  and  partition 
walls,  at  every  five  feet,  commencing  from  the  bottom  of  the  founda- 
tion, are  banded  together  with  bars  of  iron,  forming,  as  it  were,  a 
perfect  iron  basket-work,  filled  in  with  brick.  The  quantity  of  iron 
so  used  increases  in  every  story  towards  the  roof ;  and  in  the  upper 
story  the  iron-bands  are  only  two  feet  apart.  The  roof  is  of  tin,  the 
partitions  of  brick,  and  the  cornice  of  zinc  and  iron.  Besides  the 
city  water-works,  a  supply  of  water  comes  from  four  artesian  wells 
of  a  ten-inch  bore,  which  have  a  capacity  of  twenty-eight  thousand 
gallons  per  hour.  A  reservoir  is  located  under  the  central  court, 
capable  of  holding  six  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  gallons.  On  the 
roof  are  seven  tanks,  which  hold  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand gallons.  The  hotel  is  supplied  with  two  steam  force-pumps  for 
water,  two  additional  for  fire,  and  five  elevators."  The  whole  cost  of 
the  structure  was  six  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Golden  Gate  Park  is  one  of  the  largest  and  -finest  parks  in  the 
world.  It  contains  over  a  thousand  acres,  and  is  laid  out  in  the  most 
tasteful  and  charming  manner.  The  conservatory  is  an  extensive 
and  imposing  structure,  admirably  arranged  for  the  purposes  for, 
which  it  was  reared.  Of  all  the  great  parks  of  the  world,  this  is  said 
to  be  the  most  picturesque  and  delightful.  Its  resources  for  variety 
of  arboriculture  are  many  and  great.  Nearly  all  semi-tropical  fruits 
grow  luxuriantly  in  it,  thus  affording  one  of  the  most  interesting 
features  possible  in  a  park,  —  trees  and  shrubs  of  many  climates 
growing  together  in  wondrous  beauty.  It  is  located  on  the  shore 
of  the  bay,  another  attraction  that  challenges  description.  Tree- 
planting  and  general  improvement  is  constantly  advancing  at  an 
annual  outlay  that  would  make  the  tax-payers  of  some  eastern  cities 
exceedingly  nervous. 

San  Francisco  is  noted  for  its  palatial  residences.  The  following 
residence  of  Charles  Crocker  is  one  of  the  most  expensive  and  attrac- 
tive dwelling-houses  in  our  country.  It  is  large  enough  and  good 
enough  for  a  king.  Indeed,  a  king  built  it,  — one  of  the  kings  found 
among  the  sovereign  people  of  America,  where  all  are  sovereigns. 
Outside,  inside,  and  surroundings  are  as  complete  and  near  perfec- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


397 


tion  as  money  could  assure.  It  is  a  study  in  architectural  plans  and 
finish. 

The  Lick  Observatory,  situated  on  Mount  Hamilton,  about  fifty 
miles  from  San.  Francisco,  was  the  gift  of  James  Lick  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  California.  The  illustration  on  the  opposite  page  furnishes  a 
view  of  the  observatory  and  the  residence  of  the  astronomers. 

Mr.  Lick  was  a  singular  man,  avaricious,  selfish,  unamiable,  and 
eccentric.  His  final  disposition  of  his  estate,  amounting  to  four 
million  dollars,  was  a  surprise  to  everybody.  He  was  the  last  man 
of  whom  the  public  would  have  expected  large  bequests  ;  and  th(* 


RESIDENCE  OF  CHARLES  CROCKER. 


last,  too,  from  whom  certain  benevolent  societies  would  have  ex- 
pected munificent  gifts.  His  most  intimate  friend  would  not  have 
dreamed  that  astronomy  would  receive  even  a  moiety  of  his  estate. 
But  this  proved  to  be  his  pet  science,  and  he  bequeathed  seven  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  to  this  object.  He  willed  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  to  establish  "The  Old  Ladies'  Home"  at  San  Francisco  ; 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  and  mainte- 
nance of  public  baths;  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  a  group  of 
bronze  statuary  representing;  the  history  of  California,  to  be  erected 
at  the  city  hall  of  San  Francisco  ;  five  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  establishment  of  a  school  of  mechanical  arts ;  with 


398 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 


many  smaller  legacies  to  individuals  and  organizations.  He  must 
have  been  a  patriotic  man,  for  he  left  sixty  thousand  dollars  for  a 
bronze  monument  to  be  erected  in  Golden  Gate  Park,  San  Francisco, 
"to  the  memory  of  Francis  Scott  Key,  author  of  the  song,  'The 
Star-Spangled  Banner.' ' 

A  romantic  story  is  told  of  his  early  life.  He  fell  in  love  with  a 
miller's  daughter,  who  responded  gladly  to  his  attentions  at  first,  but 
her  father  opposed  the  match.  Young  Lick  was  not  a  favorite  of  his. 


LICK   OBSERVATORY. 

Finally  he  relinquished  the  idea  of  wooing  the  maiden,  but  resolved 
that  he  would  beat  the  irrepressible  miller  some  day  on  a  mill.  That 
was  in  Fredericksburg,  Penn.,  from  which  place  he  drifted  away, 
lived  for  a  series  of  years  in  Buenos  Ayres  and  Valparaiso,  whence 
he  removed  to  California  in  1847.  There,  near  San  Jose",  he  erected 
his  mill  to  beat  the  Pennsylvania  miller.  It  cost  him  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  finished  in  the  most  costly  California 
woods,  highly  polished,  and  was,  indeed,  the  most  expensive  mill 
ever  built.  The  Pennsylvania  miller  "had  gone  before  "  when  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  399 

purpose  of  Lick  was  accomplished,  but  the  latter  enjoyed  it  all  the 
same. 

Mr.  Lick  selected  the  spot  on  which  the  observatory  should  stand, 
and  it  was  inaccessible  at  the  time.  The  United  States  government 
owned  the  land,  and  Congress  granted  sixteen  hundred  acres  of  it 
for  the  uses  of  the  observatory.  The  county  of  Santa  Clara,  in 
which  Mount  Hamilton  is,  fulfilled  another  condition  of  Mr.  Lick's 
will,  and  built  a  road  to  the  summit  at  an  expense  of  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars.  This  road  is  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  is  called 
Lick  Avenue,  one  of  the  finest  avenues  in  all  the  West. 

The  will  required  for  the  observatory  "  a  powerful  telescope,  supe- 
rior to  and  more  powerful  than  any  telescope  yet  made."  Such  a 
telescope  has  been  in  process  of  construction,  and,  at  this  time  of 
writing,  is  nearly  completed.  One  who  has  travelled  this  avenue 
says  :  "  The  grade  in  no  place  exceeds  six  feet  and  three-quarters  in 
one  hundred  feet.  There  is  no  part  of  it  where  a  carriage  team  can- 
not trot  comfortably  up  the  grade." 

Work  on  the  Lick  Observatory  began  July  23,  1880,  and  a  great 
work  it  was  :  for  every  sort  of  material  used,  as  well  as  tools,  —  even 
food  and  water,  —  had  to  be  transported  to  the  top  of  the  mountain. 
Subsequently,  however,  a  spring  was  discovered  three  hundred  and 
ten  feet  below  the  summit,  and  a  bed  of  brick-clay  eight  hundred  feet 
below,  all  of  which  were  utilized.  As  soon  as  possible,  a  reservoir, 
capable  of  holding  three  hundred  thousand  gallons,  was  constructed 
on  the  highest  peak,  by  excavating  a  solid  rock. 

The  observatory  is  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet  in  length, 
—  a  transit-house,  meridian  circle,  a  photo-heliograph  and  heliostat, 
and  a  photograph-house.  The  main  building  stands  nearly  due  north 
and  south,  and  fronts  the  west.  The  location  for  astronomical  pur- 
poses is  the  best  possible.  The  observatory  will  be  completed  some- 
time in  1888. 

California  boasts  several  remarkable  health  resorts,  to  which 
thousands  of  invalids  and  tourists  go.  One  of  these  is  Monterey,  an 
ancient  town,  built  almost  entirely  of  adobe.  Monterey  early  became 
the  capital  of  the  Territory ;  and  many  of  the  governors  under  Span- 
ish, Mexican,  and  American  rule  made  it  their  homes.  The  town  is 
situated  upon  the  slope  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  beautiful  bay ;  and 
one  mile  distant,  in  a  magnificent  grove,  stands  the  famous  Hotel  del 
Monte.  Its  style  is  Gothic  ;  and  it  cost  two  hundred  and  fifty  tJioti- 
sand  dollars.  The  grounds  embrace  one  hundred  and  twenty-six 
acres,  the  most  of  them  laid  out  in  lawns  and  gardens  filled  with  the 


4<X> 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


rarest  flowers.  Forty  or  fifty  trained  gardeners  are  kept  at  work, 
under  the  directions  of  Mr.  R.  Ulrich,  beautifying  this  charming 
park.  The  bathing-beach  is  inferior  to  none  in  the  world ;  and,  to 
accommodate  visitors  who  need  a  warmer  temperature  than  the  surf 

affords,  a  luxurious 
swimming-bath  has 
been  erected,  at  an 
expense  of  seventy- 
five  tJionsand  dol- 
lars. The  hotel 
itself  is  an  artis- 
tic and  imposing 
structure,  elegant- 
ly furnished,  and 
ably  conducted. 
To  supply  the  ho- 
tel and  estate  with 
water,  C  a  r  m  e  1 
River  was  tapped, 
and  the  water 
brought  in  pipes, 
at  an  expense  of 
more  than  half  a 
million  of  dollars. 
Since  writing 
the  foregoing,  this 
costly  hotel  has 
been  destroyed  by 
fire,  — the  work  of 
an  incendiary.  It 
will  be  rebuilt  im- 
mediately, at  a  cost 
of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars more  than  the 
structure  burned. 
Passadena  is  a  beautiful  location  eight  miles  from  Los  Angeles. 
It  has  become  a  very  popular  health  resort,  possessing  some  charac- 
teristics that  do  not  belong  to  other  resorts  of  California.  Eastern 
people  of  wealth  have  gone  there  in  search  of  health,  and  have 
erected  fine  residences,  surrounding  them  with  orange  trees  and  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


401 


rarest  flowers,  converting  the  place  into  an  earthly  paradise.  Upon 
the  most  commanding  eminence  stands  the  new  hotel,  —  "The  Ray- 
mond,"—  erected  at  an  expense  of  tJirec  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


and  opened  in  November,  1886.  The  main  building  is  two  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  feet  long,  facing  the  south.  A  veranda,  fifteen  feet 
wide,  extends  around  nearly  the  whole  structure,  affording  a  contin- 
uous promenade  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  An  elevator  runs  from  the 


4O2 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


cellar  to  the  observatory.  The  house  is  elegant  in  every  particular, 
and  is  provided  with  every  modern  convenience,  —  gas,  telephone, 
telegraph,  postal  facilities,  etc.  It  is  erected  by  the  Raymond  Ex- 
cursion Company,  whose  parties  make  it  their  winter  quarters  ;  and 
splendid  quarters  they  are. 

We  shall  close  this  third  department  of  our  work  by  calling  atten- 
tion to  a  marvel  of  a  public  house  in  New  Mexico. 

Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  derives  its  name  from  the  town  of  New 
Mexico,  in  which  it  is  situated,  —  a  place  of  eight  thousand  inhabi- 
tants. The  hotel  is  one  of  the  finest  structures  of  the  kind  in  the 


HOTEL,   LAS  VEGAS  HOT  SPRINGS. 

United  States,  and  takes  the  place  of  the  noted  "  Montezuma,"  which 
was  burned  in  January,  1884.  It  occupies  another  and  more  com- 
manding location  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  It  is  constructed  of 
solid  stone,  and  is  as  nearly  as  possible  fire-proof.  It  contains  three 
hundred  rooms  furnished  in  the  finest  style  of  which  modern  art  is 
capable,  and  while  varying  in  style  and  decoration,  one  room  is  about 
as  good  as  another.  The  ladies'  and  gentlemen's  reception  rooms 
are  large  and  elaborately  finished  in  hard  woods,  and  elegantly  fur- 
nished. There  is  a  general  and  beautiful  parlor  on  each  floor.  The 
carpets  were  made  to  order,  after  original  designs,  without  regard  to 
expense,  and  the  window  draperies  are  a  superb  match  for  the  carpets. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  403 

One  angle  of  the  building  is  ornamented  with  a  tower,  from  the 
various  stories  of  which  the  grandest  views  of  nature  are  taken  in. 
Around  the  front  and  sides  of  the  building  are  wide  balconies,  fur- 
nished with  every  sort  of  an  easy  and  invalid  chair  invented  for 
loungers  and  patients. 

The  grounds  are  ample  and  beautifully  laid  out,  with  the  attrac- 
tions of  a  museum,  aviary,  zoological  collection,  green-house,  etc. 
Postal,  telephone,  and  telegraphic  connection  with  the  outside  world 
are  complete. 

Invalids,  tourists,  and  pleasure-seekers  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  even  from  foreign  countries,  are  the  patrons  of  this  mag- 
nificent hotel,  which  is  six  miles  by  rail  from  the  centre  of  the  town. 

Such  is  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  almost  incredible  progress  of  the 
New  West.  No  "  wilderness  and  solitary  place  "  was  ever  so  speedily 
transformed  into  a  populous  and  thriving  country  before.  Consult 
the  map  of  the  New  West  as  it  was,  with  the  "  Great  American  Des- 
ert "  stretching  hundreds  of  miles  over  its  vast  territory  in  painful 
desolation  ;  and  contrast  it  with  the  map  of  the  New  West  as  it  now 
is,  interlaced  with  railway  track,  peopled  by  the  most  adventurous 
and  enterprising  men  and  women  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe, 
dotted  with  populous  and  wealthy  cities  that  have  grown  into  power 
and  beauty  as  if  by  magic,  commerce  appropriating  every  mountain 
and  valley,  lake  and  river  to  its  mighty  growth,  and  Christian  civiliza- 
tion crowning  the  whole  with  the  benediction  of  Almighty  God. 
Such  another  marvel  is  not  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  so  unique, 
so  original,  so  magnificent.  Some  one  has  said  that  thirty  years  ago 
a  railroad  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  sea  was  only  an  idea, 
while  the  "Great  American  Desert"  was  Sifact;  but  now  the  idea  is 
a  stubborn  fact,  and  the  Desert  has  ceased  to  be.  Marvellous  trans- 
formation !  An  empire  of  magic,  bedecked  with  jewels  and  crowned 
with  gold ! 

Nor  can  we  stop  here.  Imagination  attempts  to  portray  the 
scene  when  fifty  and  a  hundred  years  more  of  progress  have  passed 
away.  When  all  the  public  lands  are  appropriated  to  the  growing 
industries  ;  when  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of  art  and  science 
have  enabled  human  enterprise  to  swell  the  harvest  of  precious  met- 
als to  untold  millions ;  when  a  teeming  population  dots  the  vast 
domain  with  towns  and  cities  that  surpass  their  sister  municipalities 
of  the  East  in  wealth  and  enterprise,  and  when  learning  and  religion 
have  founded  the  finest  schools  and  universities,  and  reared  the  cost- 
liest temples  for  the  worship  of  God  from  the  banks  of  the  Missouri 


404  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

to  the  Pacific  Slope,  then  will  the  dwellers  in  our  land,  and  other 
lands,  behold  here  a  national  growth  and  consummation  without  a 
parallel  in  human  history. 

THE    MORMON    SETTLEMENT. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  immoralities  and  corruption  of  the 
Mormon  system,  as  a  business  enterprise  it  is  conceded  to  be  a 
marvel.  The  sacrifice,  courage,  and  indomitable  spirit  incident  to  a 
journey  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  Utah  forty  years  ago,  for  the 
purpose  of  colonizing  in  the  "vast  wilderness,"  so  remote  from  civili- 
zation that  Gentile  interference  would  be  quite  impossible,  is  suffi- 
cient evidence  of  zeal  and  daring  enterprise. 

Salt  Lake  City,  or  "  Zion,"  as  the  city  is  called  by  many  Mormons, 
has  .a  population  of  about  thirty  thousand.  It  is  a  beautiful  city, 
handsomely  laid  out,  with  wide  streets  running  at  right  angles  and 
lined  with  thrifty  shade  trees.  Irrigating  ditches  lend  a  charm  to 
the  town,  by  distributing  the  clear,  pure,  sparkling  Rocky  Mountain 
water  through  all  the  streets.  Large  public  buildings  and  costly  busi- 
ness blocks  adorn  the  city,  and  everywhere  there  is  the  appearance 
of  thrift  and  enterprise. 

The  illustration  on  the  following  page  exhibits  Assembly  Hall 
on  the  left,  the  Tabernacle  in  the  centre,  and  the  new,  unfinished 
Temple  on  the  right.  The  Tabernacle  is  an  immense  building,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide. 
The  roof  is  supported  by  forty-six  columns  of  cut  sandstone,  and  is 
the  largest  self-sustaining  roof  in  the  United  States,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Grand  Union  Depot  of  New  York.  The  ceiling  of  the  roof 
is  sixty-five  feet  above  the  floor.  At  one  end  of  the  building  is  the 
largest  organ  in  the  country,  with  a  single  exception.  The  audience 
room  will  seat  eight  thousand  people.  The  Temple  is  a  mammoth 
structure,  and,  at  this  time  of  writing,  is  nearly  completed.  It  is 
located  on  the  eastern  half  of  the  same  block  with  the  Tabernacle. 
The  dimensions  of  its  foundation  are  99x186^  feet.  The  build- 
ing is  two  hundred  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  feet  wide.  The  foun- 
dations are  laid  sixteen  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  are 
sixteen  feet  in  thickness.  The  walls  are  nine  feet  and  nine  inches 
thick,  built  of  light-gray  granite.  The  three  towers  on  each  end 
of  the  building  are  very  graceful  and  ornamental,  the  two  central 
ones  rising  two  hundred  feet,  containing  a  circular  stairway  winding 
around  a  column  four  feet  in  diameter. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE. 


405 


The  corner-stone  of  this  building  was  laid  April  6,  1853,  with  the 
expectation  that  thirty  years  would  be  required  to  complete  it.  Its  cost 
will  be  nearly  four  mil- 
lion dollars.  Like  the 
Tabernacle,  it  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable 
public  buildings  on 
this  continent. 

Mormon  business  is 
conducted  on  the  co- 
operative plan,  —  one 
great  company  being 
organized  to  purchase 
goods  in  large  quanti- 
ties for  all  the  Mor- 
mon settlements.  This 
company  bears  the 
name  of  "  Zion's  Co- 
operative Mercantile 
Institution."  Its  head- 
quarters are  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  in  an  im- 
mense building  of 
brick,  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  feet  long 
by  fifty-three  feet  wide, 
three  stories  above  the 
cellar.  An  addition  to 
this  building,  twenty- 
five  by  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  feet, 
used  for  a  warehouse, 
has  been  erected  at  an 
expense  of  $175,000. 
The  business  trans- 
acted here  annually 
amounts  to  millions  of 
dollars. 

As  an  agricultural  community,  the  Mormon  settlement  has  proved 
a  great  success.  By  means  of  irrigation,  the  Mormons  have  made 
the  desert  to  blossom  literally  as  the  rose,  —  "Jordan  Valley"  is 


406  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

transformed  into  a  garden  of  wondrous  beauty.  Beyond  the  fondest 
dream  of  thrift  and  plenty,  a  wealth  of  products  rewards  the  hus- 
bandman for  his  labors  to  reclaim  these  desert  lands. 

That  such  a  city  and  such  a  people  should  exist  to-day,  where, 
forty  years  ago,  for  a  thousand  miles  around,  there  was  not  a  civilized 
abode,  is  a  marvellous  fact.  Should  another  forty  years  achieve  an 
equal  advance -throughout  that  grand  mountain  domain,  the  reality 
will  challenge  the  wonder  of  mankind. 

RAILROAD   KINGS. 

We  add  to  the  foregoing  marvels  of  enterprise,  the  portraits  and 
brief  biographies  of  seven  Railroad  Kings,  —  public  men  who  have 
contributed  largely  to  the  progress  of  the  New  West,  by  constructing 
railroads.  Some  of  these  life-sketches  are  given  just  as  they  have 
been  published  to  the  world  before  ;  others  have  been  prepared  from 
reliable  data  for  this  volume.  All  of  them  are  marked  examples  of 
industry,  perseverance,  tact,  enterprise,  courage,  and  integrity,  which 
the  young  men  of  our  country  may  study  with  profit ;  for  each  one 
of  them  was  "the  artificer  of  his  own  fortune." 

Mark  Hopkins  (deceased)  should  have  been  included  in  this  list  of 
Railroad  Kings,  and  we  spared  no  pains  to  secure  his  portrait  and 
life-sketch  ;  and,  after  all,  failed.  It  is  only  left  for  us  to  say  that  he 
was  a  railroad  king. 

OAKES   AMES. 

Oakes  Ames,  eldest  son  of  Oliver  and  Susannah  Ames,  was  born 
in  Easton,  Dec.  10,  1804.  His  father  removed  from  Bridgewater  to 
Easton  in  1803,  because  the  water-power  there  was  better  for  his 
business,  —  the  manufacture  of  shovels.  He  purchased  a  farm,  also, 
on  which  Oakes  worked  more  or  less  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough, 
and  that  was  very  early.  Subsequently  he  assisted  in  the  shovel 
factory  when  he  was  out  of  school,  as  inclined  to  industry  as  he  was 
to  obedience. 

District  schools  were  short  and  poor,  but  Oakes  got  more  out  of 
them  than  many  boys,  on  account  of  his  thoughtfulness  and  applica- 
tion. He  went  to  school  to  learn  —  and  he  learned,  as  he  went  into 
the  shop  to  work  —  and  he  worked.  Until  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age,  he  had  no  opportunities  for  education,  except  what  the  district 
school  furnished.  Then  he  attended  Dighton  Academy  a  few 


RAILROAD   KINGS. 


408  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

months,  as  a  kind  of  conclusion  to  his  education,  when  he  entered 
upon  his  life-pursuit  in  the  shovel  factory. 

Oakes  was  a  large,  stout  boy,  full  of  life  and  energy,  willing  and 
ambitious.  He  progressed  rapidly  in  shovel-making,  and  soon  made 
himself  indispensable  to  his  father's  business.  On  reaching  his  ma- 
jority, or  soon  after,  he  became  superintendent  of  the  factory,  in  which 
position  he  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  the  employees. 

In  1844,  his  father  became  sixty-five  years  of  age,  when  he  with- 
drew from  active  participation  in  the  business,  and  the  two  sons, 
Oakes  and  Oliver,  became  the  sole  managers ;  and  the  firm  was 
known  as  Oliver  Ames  &  Sons.  From  year  to  year  their  business 
extended,  until  they  employed  nearly  five  hundred  men  ;  and  one 
thousand  tons  of  iron,  two  thousand  tons  of  steel,  and  five  thousand 
tons  of  coal  passed  annually  through  their  hands,  in  the  manufacture 
of  shovels.  Their  manufactures  were  always  first-class.  In  every 
market  the  trade-mark  of  the  company  was  recognized  as  the  syno- 
nyme  of  honest  and  thorough  work.  A  shovel  was  a  shovel,  good  and 
true.  There  was  no  approximation  to  sham  production  in  the  estab- 
lishment. At  the  dedication  of  the  "Oakes  Ames  Memorial  Hall," 
presented  by  his  sons  to  the  town  of  Easton,  Judge  Thomas  Russell 
said  :  — 

"A  Boston  merchant  told  me  that  he  made  a  wagon  journey  of  a 
thousand  miles  in  South  Africa,  and  among  all  the  Boers  and  Bush- 
men and  half-breeds,  he  never  found  men  so  ignorant,  or  kraals  so 
small,  that  they  didn't  have  and  appreciate  Ames'  shovels.  To 
them  the  mystic  letters  '  Oliver  Ames  &  Sons '  meant  honest  mate- 
rials and  faithful  work.  It  was  more  wonderful  because  they  were 
not  used  to  it.  From  another  quarter  they  receive  guns  that  go  off 
at  the  wrong  time  and  at  the  wrong  place  ;  rum  that  will  neither 
cheer  nor  inebriate  (that  wouldn't  trouble  any  of  this  family)  ;  knives 
that  will  not  scalp — no,  not  even  scalp  a  railroad  ticket.  It  is 
pleasant  in  this  age  of  shams,  to  know  that  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  in  Australia,  in  New  Zealand,  at  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  in 
the  farthest  islands  of  the  sea,  this  old  Massachusetts  brand, — this 
Old  Colony  brand, — stands  all  the  world  over  for  thorough  work, 
tough  as  ash  and  true  as  steel." 

Even  his  shovels  praised  him. 

Judge  Russell's  remark  in  parenthesis  was  a  tribute  paid  to  the 
temperance  principles  of  the  firm,  clear  back  to  the  father.  Oakes 
Ames  was  a  teetotaler,  and  a  most  uncompromising  foe  to  the 
saloon.  An  eye-witness  informed  us,  that,  at  one  time,  when  he  was 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  409 

a  member  of  the  State  Department,  the  officers  visited  the  public  in- 
stitutions. At  one  of  them,  the  superintendent  flung  open  a  cupboard 
door,  where  intoxicating  liquors  were  displayed,  and  invited  the  com- 
pany to  drink.  Oakes  Ames  was  indignant.  Instead  of  accepting 
the  invitation,  he  expressed  his  surprise  that  State  officers  should  be 
invited  to  drink  in  an  almshouse.  "  Four-fifths  of  the  inmates  are 
brought  here  through  drink,"  he  said,  "and  it  is  a  disgrace  and  shame 
that  liquors  are  brought  in  here  at  all."  And  he  went  on,  pouring 
out  invective  upon  the  curse  of  strong  drink,  until  the  superinten- 
dent hung  his  head,  and  the  whole  company  declined  his  invitation. 
My  informant  said,  that,  in  consequence,  the  liquors  were  all  cleaned 
out  of  the  institution. 

In  1860,  when  the  country  was  on  the  eve  of  an  unparalleled  civil 
war,  Oakes  Ames  was  elected  to  a  place  on  the  governor's  council. 
Every  one  who  knew  him,  said,  "He  is  just  the  man  for  Governor 
Andrew's  cabinet."  In  this  way  he  was  introduced  into  political  life. 
The  war  came  on  ;  and  Governor  Andrew  said,  "He  should  be  sent 
to  Congress,  where  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  such  men  are 
needed  in  this  crisis."  The  voters  of  the  second  district  thought  as 
Governor  Andrew  did,  and,  by  a  triumphant  vote,  sent  him  to  the 
Thirty-Eighth  Congress.  For  ten  years  he  continued  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion with  marked  ability  and  fidelity. 

In  July,  1862,  Congress  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  construction 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Mr.  Ames  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  project.  But  capitalists  had  too  little  faith  in  the  enterprise  ;  they 
withheld  their  capital.  Two  years  later,  the  whole  thing  came  to  a 
stand-still,  and  was  in  danger  of  absolute  failure,  for  the  want  of 
brains  and  enterprise.  Oakes  Ames  was  besought  to  interpose  and 
save  the  road.  President  Lincoln  entreated  him,  members  of  Con- 
gress urged  him,  public  men,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  im- 
portuned him.  Finally,  he  was  fairly  persuaded  to  undertake  the 
Herculean  task.  This  was  in  the  autumn  of  1865  ;  and  from  the 
moment  he  consented  to  prosecute  the  mammoth  enterprise,  — 
greater  than  any  American  citizen  had  undertaken  before,  —  the 
anxious  public  felt  assured  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was 
an  established  fact.  When  President  Lincoln  had  signed  the  con- 
tract for  building  the  road,  rising  from  his  seat,  and  throwing  his 
right  arm  over  the  broad  shoulder  of  Ames,  he  said,  "  Your  name, 
Mr.  Ames,  will  live  longer  in  history  than  mine." 

We  have  no  room  to  record  the  labors  and  sacrifices  of  Mr.  Ames 
in  the  construction  of  the  road.  It  was  completed  in  about  three 


410  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

years, — seven  years  less  time  than  the  government  allowed  in  its 
contract.  General  Butler  said  :  "  Without  him,  I  am  of  the  confident 
belief  that  that  great  link  which  binds  the  East  and  the  West  to- 
gether, in  the  bond  which  we  all  trust  will  never  be  severed,  would 
not  have  been  made  in  this  generation,  if  at  all.  .  .  .  With  an 
energy  never  faltering,  with  a  directness  never  swerving,  with  a 
faith  never  failing,  he  stood  behind  it,  pushing  it  forward,  with  the 
belief  that  it  was  as  necessary  for  the  unification  of  the  country  as 
was  the  successful  termination  of  the  war  itself." 

Senator  Dawes  said,  in  the  United  States  senate-chamber :  "  I 
have  a  colleague  who  has  adorned  his  calling  through  a  long  life  of 
industry ;  who  has  carried  greater  loads  upon  his  shoulders,  and 
worked  out  greater  problems  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of 
the  country  than  any  man  connected  with  the  material  interest  or 
enterprise  in  the  whole  United  States.  •  A  grateful  nation  will  yet 
rear  his  monument,  and  its  inscription  will  be,  THE  BUILDER  OF 
THE  UNION  PACIFIC  RAILROAD." 

We  have  no  heart  to  narrate  the  trials  inflicted  upon  him  by  the 
cowardice  and  corruption  of  political  demagogues,  in  the  name  of 
the  Credit  Mobilier.  That  record  is  one  of  ingratitude  and  shame 
on  the  part  of  truckling  politicians,  incapable  of  understanding  how 
a  statesman  can  execute  a  great  national  trust,  in  which  the  real- 
ization of  a  fortune  is  possible,  and  be  honest.  To  cast  aspersion  upon 
a  public  man,  when,  down  in  their  heart  of  hearts,  they  believed  Oakes 
Ames  incapable  of  dishonesty,  is  a  crime  of  the  darkest  hue  ;  and 
that  was  the  crime  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  Congress  in  1873. 

A  member  of  Congress  said  in  a  speech  :  "  At  the  hour  when 
nearly  one-half  of  this  Union  was  struggling  to  overthrow  the  other, 
when  the  earth  resounded  to  the  tramp  of  armed  men  in  the  field,  in 
the  darkest  hour  of  our  fortunes,  Oakes  Ames  came  forward,  and 
placed  down  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  his  subscription,  to 
send  the  railroad  across  the  continent  that  should  hold  the  East  and 
the  West  together,  because  he  had  seen  the  North  and  the  South 
struggling  to  separate. 

"  I  have  seen  him  when  bankruptcy  and  ruin  fell  upon  him, 
because  he  had  taken  part  in  this  great  national  work.  I  have  seen 
him  crushed  down  to  earth  with  obligations  and  debts  not  incurred 
for  himself,  but  in  the  service  of  his  country  ;  and  yet  such  was  the 
force  of  his  honesty  and  integrity  of  character,  that  each  and  all  of 
his  creditors  gave  him  extension  of  credit,  and  everv  one  has  been 
paid  to  the  uttermost  farthing.  It  is  to  his  credit  that  he  had  to 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  41 1 

absent  himself  from  your  committee  while  investigating  his  honesty, 
to  go  home  and  do  the  last  act  of  an  honest  man,  by  paying  up  the 
last  dollar  of  his  extended  debt.  Such  is  Oakes  Ames." 

The  sons  of  Oakes  Ames,  in  their  beautiful  memorial  volume, 
address  the  reader  in  the  following  fitting  paragraph  :  — 

"  Have  the  detractors  of  Oakes  Ames  ever  asked  themselves  what 
motive,  except  public  spirit,  could  have  led  a  man  so  situated  to 
contract  to  build  the  road  ?  His  own  personal  interest  in  the  con- 
struction company,  in  December,  1867,  was  only  one-eighth  of  the 
whole.  By  signing  the  contract,  he  made  the  entire  risk  his  own. 
But,  in  case  of  profit,  seven-eighths  of  the  profit  would  belong  to 
others.  Why,  except  from  public  spirit,  should  a  man  worth  millions, 
and  secure  in  the  possession  of  them,  have  risked  all  by  becoming 
personally  responsible,  as  he  did,  for  the  vast  sum  of  forty-seven 
million  ?  Why  else  should  he  have  undertaken  to  find  a  market  for 
the  securities  of  the  road,  and  to  convert  them  into  money  with 
which  to  meet  these  immense  obligations  ?  Why  else  should  he 
have  given  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  these  colossal  cares  and 
responsibilities  ?  For  the  prosperity  of  his  country,  he  risked  his 
own  fortune  and  that  of  his  family,  and  up  to  this  hour  his  return 
has  been,  in  too  many  quarters,  unmeasured  reproach  and  odium." 

At  the  dedication  of  the  Oakes  Ames  Memorial  Hall  already 
alluded  to,  the  president  of  the  Massachusetts  Senate  said  :  "  Better 
than  these  is  the  consciousness  which  we  have  of  the  worth  and 
nobility  of  character  of  Oakes  Ames.  His  proudest  and  most 
perfect  monument  is  in  our  hearts,  in  our  deep  sense  of  what  he 
was.  When  we  think  of  his  massive  mould  of  heart  and  spirit  no 
less  than  in  body,  of  his  strength  and  simplicity,  of  his  inflexibility 
and  patience  amid  great  undertakings  and  the  heaviest  difficulties  ; 
when  we  remember  the  amplitude  of  the  unselfish  works  accom- 
plished by  him  for  mankind,  we  say  of  him  :  — 

'  Such  was  our  friend  ;  formed  on  the  good  old  plan, 
A  true  and  brave  and  downright  honest  man.' 

Such  a  monument  will  indeed  endure.  Every  memento  which 
affection  can  rear  may  pass  away ;  the  most  enduring  work  of  human 
skill  to  his  memory  may  perish  ;  from  the  tablets  on  the  Sierras  his 
lineaments  will  crumble  and  fade  and  disappear  ;  while  continually 
in  the  generations  to  come,  — 

'  Death  will  mould  in  calm  completeness 
The  statue  of  his  life.1 " 


412  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


OLIVER   AMES. 

Oliver  Ames  was  a  worthy  and  noble  brother  of  Oakes  Ames. 
He  was  the  third  son  of  Hon.  Oliver  and  Susannah  Ames,  and 
was  born  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  Nov.  5,  1807.  He  was  seven  years 
old  when  his  father  removed  to  Easton,1  where  he  lived  until  he 
died,  March  3,  1877.  He  was  old  enough  to  render  some  assist- 
ance in  the  shovel  factory  which  his  father  established,  so  that,  from 
the  day  he  became  a  resident  of  Easton,  his  time  was  divided  be- 
tween school  and  the  factory.  A  busy  boyhood  and  youth  was  his, 
both  from  inclination  and  paternal  instruction.  His  obedience  and 
industry  left  no  time  for  idleness.  All  his  time  belonged  to  study  or 
labor.  He  loved  books ;  and  the  schoolroom  was  always  an  inviting 
place  to  him.  He  loved  work,  also,  and  the  shovel  factory  had 
attractions  for  him.  His  marked  tact  and  intelligent  comprehension 
made  him  a  skilled  workman  while  yet  in  his  youth.  Before  emerg- 
ing from  his  .teens,  he  could  make,  with  his  own  hands,  as  fine  a 
shovel  as  any  workman  in  the  establishment.  At  the  same  time,  he 
was  an  extra  scholar,  and  possessed  a  strong  desire  for  a  collegiate 
education.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1828,  after  being  disabled  by 
a  serious  accident,  that  he  seriously  thought  of  a  college  course  of 
study.  It  was  feared  that  his  injury  might  prove  permanent ;  and 
this  fact  brought  the  subject  of  Oliver's  liberal  education  to  the 
front.  It  was  discussed  at  the  family  fireside,  and  the  final  decision 
was  that  he  should  go  to  college.  So  he  entered  an  academy  at 
North  Andover,  Mass.,  designing  to  prepare  for  college,  and  finally 
enter  the  legal  profession,  for  which  his  friends  thought  he  possessed 
decided  talents. 

After  eighteen  months  had  elapsed,  for  sufficient  reasons,  his 
plans  were  changed,  and  he  entered  the  law  office  of  William  Baylis, 
Esq.,  of  West  Bridgewater,  as  a  student.  Close  application  to  study, 
together  with  a  constitution  that  required  an  active  rather  than  sed- 
entary life,  soon  told  upon  his  health.  Physically  he  broke  down ; 
and,  to  his  very  great  disappointment,  was  compelled  to  relinquish 
the  idea  of  a  liberal  education.  He  returned  to  the  shovel  factory, 
instead  of  going  to  college,  and  there  achieved  success,  which  he 
shared,  through  his  large  wealth,  with  the  public. 

He  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Hon.  Howard  Lothrop,  of  Easton, 

1  His  father  had  removed  from  Easton  to  Plymouth  to  start  a  new  enterprise,  still  con- 
tinuing his  business  in  Easton,  tu  which  place  he  returned  in  1814. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  413 

in  June,  1833;  and,  in  1844,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  his 
father  and  brother  Oakes,  under  the  name  of  "  O.  Ames  &  Sons." 
He  was  a  thorough  business  man,  and  devoted  his  energies,  with 
unremitting  diligence,  to  the  success  of  their  manufactures.  At  the 
same  time,  his  love  of  learning  did  not  allow  of  his  divorce  from  in- 
tellectual culture.  Moments  that  he  could  snatch  from  the  claims 
of  a  large  and  growing  business  were  given  to  mental  improvement. 

He  was  not  over  twenty  years  of  age  when  the  temperance  cause 
enlisted  his  sympathies,  and  he  took  the  ground  of  total  abstinence, 
as  a  matter  of  principle.  Nor  was  he  any  more  decided  on  this  ques- 
tion than  were  his  father  and  brother.  All  of  them  saw  the  curse  of 
drink  to  the  laboring  class ;  and  they  united  their  efforts  to  expel 
intoxicating  liquors,  not  only  from  the  factory,  but  from  the  town  as 
well.  When  prohibition  came,  they  were  prepared  for  it,  and  hailed 
it  as  the  harbinger  of  thrift  and  peace  to  the  workingman's  home. 
They  supported  prohibitory  legislation,  also,  as  necessary  to  the 
order  and  success  of  a  manufacturing  town.  The  repeal  of  the  pro- 
hibitory law,  in  1868,  and  the  substitution  of  a  license  law,  gave  them 
an  experience  out  of  which,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  they  made  the 
following  statement  to  the  public  :  — 

"  We  have  over  four  hundred  men  in  our  works  here.  We  find 
that  the  present  license  law  has  a  very  bad  effect  upon  our  employ- 
ees. On  comparing  our  production  in  May  and  June  of  this  year 
(1868)  with  that  of  the  corresponding  months  of  last  year  (1867),  we 
find  that,  in  1867,  with  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  men  we  pro- 
duced eight  (8)  per  cent  more  goods  than  we  did  in  the  same  months 
in  1868  with  four  hundred  men.  We  attribute  this  large  falling  off 
entirely  to  the  repeal  of  the  prohibitory  law  and  the  great  increase  in 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  among  our  men  in  consequence." 

The  heart,  hand,  and  purse  of  Oliver  Ames  were  enlisted  in  the 
advancement  of  the  temperance  cause.  Several  times  we  were  a  wit- 
ness to  his  annual  subscription  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  aid  a  single 
State  temperance  society  in  its  noble  work. 

He  was  first  a  Whig  in  his  political  connections,  then  a  Republi- 
can, deeply  interested  in  every  question  pertaining  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  and  the  prosperity  of  his  country.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate  in  1852  and  1857,  distinguished  for  his  clear,  sharp  dis- 
crimination on  public  questions,  and  non-partisan  spirit.  He  was 
ready  in  debate,  earnest  and  direct,  and  never  failed  to  hold  his  hear- 
ers to  the  close.  He  often  spoke  in  public  on  political  questions  of 
the  hour ;  and  few  speakers  ever  carried  conviction  with  more  cer- 


41 4  MARVELS  OF  THE.  NEW  WEST. 

tainty  to  his  hearers  than  he,  although  he  laid  no  claim  to  ora- 
tory. 

In  1855,  ^e  O.  Ames  &  Sons  built  the  Easton  branch  railroad; 
and  from  that  time  their  attention  was  called  to  the  railroad  as  an 
important  factor  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  our  country. 
So  that,  when  the  Union  Pacific  enterprise  had  come  to  a  stand-still, 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  its  being  abandoned,  these  patriotic  and  enter- 
prising brothers  came  to  the  rescue.  We  have  heard  Oliver  say  that 
when  Oakes  first  disclosed  to  him  his  purpose  concerning  this  trans- 
continental railway,  he  promptly  discouraged  the  undertaking,  because 
of  the  immense  business  that  was  already  taxing  their  energies  to  the 
utmost.  But  the  unselfish  and  patriotic  devotion  of  his  brother  to 
the  enterprise,  and  the  critical  demands  of  the  hour,  soon  removed 
every  objection,  and  the  brothers  were  one  in  a  settled  determination 
to  complete  the  road.  From  1866  to  March,  1871,  Oliver  Ames  was 
president  of  the  company.  Another  says  :  "  His  sound  judgment, 
business  capacity,  and  inflexible  honesty  were  of  immense  service  in 
carrying  this  great  enterprise  safely,  through  difficulty  and  peril,  to 
final  success." 

Public  confidence  in  Oliver  Ames  was  unlimited.  His  wisdom, 
efficiency,  and  integrity  were  sought  by  great  enterprises  and  philan- 
thropic institutions.  He  was  President  of  the  National  Bank  of 
Easton,  the  Ames  Plow  Company,  and  the  Kinsley  Iron  and  Machine 
Company.  He  was  a  director,  also,  in  several  banks,  including  the 
Bristol  County  National  Bank.  He  was  a  director,  too,  in  the  Union 
Pacific,  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  Kansas  Pacific,  Denver  Pacific,  Colorado 
Central,  Old  Colony  and  Newport  Railroads,  not  to  mention  others. 
These  are  only  a  portion  of  the  public  trusts  which  he  carried  ;  for 
the  cause  of  education,  philanthropy,  and  reform,  as  well  as  agri- 
cultural, historical,  and  other  societies,  were  continually  taxing  his 
attention  and  benevolence. 

He  was  a  Unitarian  in  his  religious  connections,  constant  in  his 
attendance  upon  public  worship,  and  for  several  years  was  a  Sunday- 
school  superintendent.  He  built  and  presented  to  his  church  in 
North  Easton  their  beautiful  house  of  worship,  also  their  fine  par- 
sonage, corresponding  in  architecture  with  the  church.  At  his  death 
he  left  a  large  fund  to  keep  the  church  and  parsonage  in  repair,  and 
another  to  improve  the  cemetery. 

The  news  of  his  death  spread  sadness  far  and  wide  ;  for  everybody 
who  knew  him  wanted  he  should  live.  His  simplicity,  generosity, 
and  purity  of  character  endeared  him  to  a  host  of  friends  in  private 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  415 

and  public  circles.  When  he  died  they  realized  the  loss  of  a  great 
benefactor  and  true  friend. 

Rev.  L.  H.  Sheldon,  an  Orthodox  clergyman  of  the  town,  preached 
a  sermon  to  young  men  on  the  life  and  character  of  Mr.  Ames,  in 
which  he  held  up  the  good  man  as  a  model  for  them  to  copy.  We 
close  this  sketch  with  brief  extracts  from  that  noble  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  an  extraordinary  man  :  — 

"  In  a  marked  degree  has  the  life  of  an  honored  citizen,  just  now 
closed,  by  its  integrity,  its  generosity,  its  wisdom,  its  enterprise,  its 
hearty  and  enlightened  sympathy  with  the  unfortunate  of  every  class, 
and  with  the  friends  of  education  and  religion,  and  by  its  love  of 
truth  and  virtue  and  every  manly  and  noble  trait,  presented  to  us, 
to  the  whole  community,  and  to  strangers  from  abroad,  its  great 
worth  while  enjoyed,  and  its  great  loss  when  taken. 

"  He  needs  no  emblazoned  tablet  to  set  forth  his  virtues  or  sound 
his  praise.  Though  dead,  he  lives  in  the  works  of  national  renown 
to  which  he  gave  his  intellectual  energy  and  his  personal  supervision  ; 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  among  whom  he  displayed  his  rare  wis- 
dom, his  calm  judgment,  his  business  thrift,  and  his  unquestioned 
integrity  and  generosity.  Ah,  yes  !  he  still  lives,  and  will  live  in  the 
intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  children  whose  minds  and  hearts  shall  be 
blessed  by  his  munificent  remembrance,  as  they  enter  the  room  for 
mental  training ;  as  they  open  the  word  of  God  in  His  courts,  and 
sing  the  songs  of  Zion  in  the  house  of  religious  worship ;  or,  as  with 
solemn  tread,  they  follow  the  remains  of  departed  loved  ones  to  their 
last  resting-place,  amid  the  quiet  and  the  beauty  that  his  own  hand 
hath  prepared.  And  once  more  :  he  will  never  die  in  that  cherished 
home  which  his  love,  intelligence,  and  virtue  ever  adorned,  sanctified, 
and  sweetened,  while  the  hallowed  memories  of  the  past,  and  the 
varied  achievements  of  the  present,  remain  as  the  reminders  of  the 
untold  worth  of  such  a  character  in  its  influence  upon  the  dawning 
life  of  the  young,  to  whose  hands  are  committed  the  great  and  good 
works  still  to  be  sustained  and  perfected." 

The  last  words  of  this  beloved  man  were,  "  IT  is  ALL  RIGHT." 

We  only  add,  from  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Oakes  and  Oli- 
ver Ames,  we  can  truly  say  that  no  eulogy  of  such  noble  charac- 
ters is  extravagant. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  testified  to  their  respect  for 
Oakes  and  Oliver  Ames,  and  their  just  appreciation  of  their  public 
labors,  by  erecting  a  monument  to  their  memory  at  Sherman.  The 
following  is  an  excellent  view  of  it :  — 


416 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MONUMENT  IN   MEMORY  OF  OAKES  AMES  AND  OLIVER  AMES. 

Erected  by  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Company  at  Sherman,  Wyoming  Territory,  — the  highest  point  reached  by 
its  railroad.      Base,  60  feet  square.      Height,  60  feet.     Summit,  8,350  feet  above  level  of  the  sea. 


C.   P.   HUNTINGTON. 


A  Connecticut  boy  of  less  than  twelve  years  was  employed  by  a 
neighbor  to  pile  a  lot  of  wood.  The  boy  belonged  to  a  family  of  chil- 
dren as  numerous  as  they  were  poor,  each  one,  at  an  early  age,  com- 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  417 

pelled  by  force  of  circumstances  to  shift  for  himself.  This  was  the 
lad's  first  job  of  any  account.  The  wood  was  piled  neatly  in  the 
shed,  the  chips  gathered  up,  and  the  ground  swept  with  an  old 
broom,  so  that  the  proprietor  exclaimed,  when  he  saw  the  thorough- 
ness of  the  boy's  work  :  "  Neat  as  a  pin  !  Here's  a  dollar  for  you  ; 
and  I  think  you  must  have  the  job  next  year."  It  was  the  annual 
winter's  stock  of  wood  the  boy  had  put  under  cover. 

He  was  delighted  both  with  the  dollar  and  with  the  praise  ;  but 
on  reaching  home,  he  said  to  his  mother,  who  was  delighted  with  his 
success : — 

"  My  feelings  were  divided  between  the  dollar  and  contempt  for 
the  man,  who  thinks  I  shall  be  doing  nothing  better  one  year  from 
now." 

Not  long  thereafter  this  high-minded  lad  was  ousted  from  the 
family  nest  by  stress  of  circumstances,  and  went  forth  into  the  great 
world  for  his  living.  A  checkered  experience  was  his  for  a  series  of 
years,  when  we  discover  him  running  a  hardware  store  in  the  young 
and  far-off  city  of  Sacramento.  The  sign  over  the  store  is  Hunting- 
ton  &  Hopkins.  The  former  is  the  Connecticut  boy  who  piled  the 
wood ;  the  latter  was  an  equally  aspiring  Massachusetts  boy  grown 
into  a  man.  They  kept  the  best  goods  made,  and  sold  them  at  a  fair 
price.  Principle  governed  their  traffic  in  hardware.  Their  store 
was  at  No.  54  K  Street. 

Here  Leland  Stanford,  a  wholesale  grocer,  and  the  two  Crocker 
Brothers,  dry-goods  dealers,  often  came  to  enjoy  the  company  of  the 
two  congenial  spirits  in  the  hardware  business.  They  discussed  the 
"topics  of  the  times,"  especially  the  needs  and  prospects  of  Cali- 
fornia. All  of  them  were  Republicans,  which  stood  for  more  than 
almost  any  one  dreamed  of  in  1860,  the  time  of  which  we  are  speak- 
ing. Their  store  became  the  headquarters  of  Republicans,  who  often 
spent  their  evenings  there,  discussing  the  future  prospects  of  the 
country. 

"A  Pacific  railroad  is  the  great  need  of  California,"  said  Hunting- 
ton,  "  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  practicable."  He  had  often  expressed 
the  same  opinion  to  his  partner.  There  were  no  dissenting  voices  in 
that  group.  Indeed,  all  the  more  intelligent  and  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  California  believed  in  a  Pacific  railroad.  They  had  succeeded 
in  bringing  the  subject  before  Congress,  though  with  no  prospect  of 
immediate  success. 

Just  then  there  came  a  man  to  Sacramento  by  the  name  of  Judah, 
to  build  the  little  "  Sacramento  Valley  Railroad."  He,  too,  became 


418  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

enthused  with  Huntington's  spirit  for  a  railway  over  the  Sierra 
Nevadas ;  and  he  borrowed  money  to  defray  the  expenses  for  explor- 
ing for  a  pass.  Again  and  again  the  frequenters  at  No.  54  K  Street 
contributed  to  aid  Judah  in  his  engineering,  with  no  definite  and 
encouraging  results.  Huntington  refused  to  give  any  more  money 
for  what  seemed  to  him  a  profitless  work  ;  and  he  proposed  a  meeting 
at  Stanford's  house,  and  the  five  leading  spirits  were  there,  —  Hunt- 
ington, Hopkins,  Stanford,  and  the  Crocker  Brothers.  Two  others 
were  there,  —  Judah,  who  died  soon  after,  and  another  citizen,  who 
dropped  out  of  the  circle.  The  five  named  above  became  the  origi- 
nators of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad. 

"I  will  be  one  of  ten  or  eight,"  said  Huntington,  "to  assume  all 
the  expense  of  making  a  thorough  survey,  if  Hopkins  is  willing." 

Hopkins  was  willing,  and  so  were  the  others ;  and,  after  canvass- 
ing the  subject  thoroughly,  it  was  decided  to  organize  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  Company.  Leland  Stanford  was  made  president,  C. 
P.  Huntington  vice-president,  and  Mark  Hopkins  secretary  and 
treasurer.  These  are  the  officers  to-day,  except  that  Hopkins  is 
dead.  It  is  the  only  railroad  in  this  country  that  has  not  slipped  out 
of  the  hands  of  its  originators  in  a  very  short  time.  But  the  boy  who 
expected  to  do  something  larger  and  better  than  piling  wood  a  year 
hence,  still  keeps  a  firm  grip  on  this  world-renowned  railway,  whose 
bonds  are  as  good  in  Europe  now  as  those  of  the  United  States 
government. 

"We  will  pay  as  we  go,"  said  Huntington.  "  Never  run  a  dollar 
in  debt.  If  we  can't  pay  a  hundred  workmen,  we  will  pay  fifty  ;  if 
we  can't  pay  fifty,  we  will  pay  ten ;  if  we  can't  pay  ten,  we  will  pay 
one.  We  will  employ  no  more  men  than  we  can  pay."  In  that  way 
the  road  was  built. 

When  the  time  came  for  depot  headquarters  at  Sacramento,  the 
engineer  was  asked  to  draft  a  plan.  When  his  plan  was  presented 
to  Huntington,  the  latter  examined  it  carefully,  and  inquired  :  — 

"The  cost  ? " 

"  About  twelve  thousand  dollars." 

"Very  nice  plan,"  Huntington  added  dryly;  "but  our  business 
is  rather  too  small  to  warrant  such  an  expense  now.  I  think  such  a 
building  as  this  will  answer  our  purpose  for  the  present  "  ;  and,  suit- 
ing his  action  to  the  word,  he  drew  a  plan  upon  the  store-door  with 
chalk  ;  and  his  plan  was  adopted.  It  was  a  board  building,  put  up  in 
a  single  day,  at  an  expense  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.1 

1  See  page  269. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  419 

The  times  that  try  men's  "souls"  came  pretty  often  to  Hunting- 
ton  and  his  associates.  He  obtained  government  aid  and  State  aid, 
it  is  true,  but  there  were  so  many  conditions  interposed  that  trials 
multiplied.  On  returning  from  New  York,  at  one  time,  he  found  the 
treasury  exhausted  ;  whereupon  he  called  together  his  associates,  and 
the  immortal  five  agreed  to  keep  eight  hundred  men  at  work  for  one 
year  at  their  own  individual  expense  ! 


CHARLES   CROCKER. 

Charles  Crocker  was  born  in  the  city  of  Troy,  N.Y.,  Sept.  16, 
1822.  All  the  schooling  he  ever  enjoyed  was  in  that  city  before  he 
was  twelve  years  of  age.  His  parents  were  in  straitened  circum- 
stances, so  that,  at  about  the  age  of  twelve,  Charles  began  the  life  of 
a  newsboy,  and  earned  his  own  living  at  that  business. 

In  1836,  when  Charles  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  his  father 
removed  to  Northern  Indiana,  and  settled  upon  government  land. 
Northern  Indiana  was  a  wilderness  at  that  time,  and  the  home  of 
Charles  was  a  log  cabin.  "  Clearing  the  land  "  was  the  first  work 
to  be  done  preparatory  to  farming,  and  it  was  new  business  for 
Charles ;  but  he  engaged  in  it  with  that  spirit  and  enterprise  which 
have  characterized  him  ever  since. 

His  mother  died  in  September,  1839,  when  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age,  leaving  his  home  desolate  indeed.  The  following 
winter  a  disagreement  arose  between  him  and  his  father,  and  the 
latter  resorted  to  the  extreme  measure  of  turning  him  out  of  doors, 
and  bidding  him  leave.  It  was  in  February,  and  two  feet  of  snow 
covered  the  ground,  when  he  turned  his  back  upon  his  father's  cabin 
to  face  the  world.  His  father  meant  it  for  severe  punishment,  but 
it  turned  out  to  be  his  first  step  on  the  road  to  fortune.  He  was 
now  just  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  his  worldly  possessions,  on 
leaving  home,  consisted  of  a  cotton  shirt,  a  linen  "  dickey,"  a  pair  of 
socks,  and  a  cotton  handkerchief  in  which  the  other  articles  were 
wrapped.  He  had  not  one  cent  of  money  with  which  to  begin  life 
for  himself,  and  no  prospect  of  having  any  until  he  earned  it. 

His  way  was  through  the  wilderness  ;  and  after  the  first  night 
had  set  in  he  reached  a  farmhouse,  the  proprietor  of  which  was  in 
the  barnyard  with  a  lantern,  feeding  his  cattle.  Charles  approached 
him  and  inquired  :  — 

"  Are  you  in  want  of  help  ?  " 


420  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"Well,"  replied  the  farmer,  "that  is  a  want  I  usually  have.  You 
want  a  place  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  that  is  what  I  am  looking  for." 

"You  are  able-bodied,"  continued  the  farmer,  "and  I  should 
think  might  be  a  good  worker.  I  will  hire  you  on  trial  for  a 
month." 

"  Agreed,"  responded  Charles,  rejoiced  to  find  a  situation  so 
readily. 

At  the  end  of  the  month,  Charles  inquired  of  his  employer  if  he 
wanted  him  any  longer. 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  answered  the  farmer. 

"At  what  wages?"  continued  Charles. 

"  For  as  much  as  any  man  in  the  country  gets,"  was  the  farmer's 
hearty  response. 

This  was  a  fine  compliment  to  Charles,  and  speaks  well  both  for 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  work.  He  continued  to  work  for  the 
farmer  until  the  following  September,  when,  for  sufficient  reasons, 
he  went  to  work  for  John  J.  Deming  in  a  saw-mill  at  Mishawaka, 
Ind. 

While  working  in  the  saw-mill,  he  realized  that  he  needed  a  better 
education  ;  so  the  next  winter  he  quit  work  and  attended  school, 
paying  his  board  to  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  by  doing 
chores.  In  the  spring  he  went  to  work  for  Alphonso  Wilson  in  his 
iron  foundry.  Here  his  services  were  so  efficient  that  Mr.  Wilson 
soon  learned  to  trust  him  with  any  part  of  his  business.  He  was  so 
apt  to  acquire  methods  of  doing  business,  the  nature  and  quality  of 
materials,  and  whatever  pertained  to  work  in  the  foundry,  that  his 
services  became  indispensable  to  his  employer,  and  he  continued  to 
serve  him  four  or  five  years.  Then  he  prospected  for  iron  ore  in 
Marshall  County,  and  was  successful.  He  discovered  a  rich  mine, 
and  Mr.  Wilson  furnished  capital  to  run  it.  The  agreement  between 
them  made  Charles  the  sole  manager,  on  a  salary  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  a  quarter  share  of  the  entire  interest,  Mr.  Wilson  erect- 
ing a  forge  there,  and  paying  for  half  the  land.  The  firm  was  known 
as  Charles  Crocker  &  Co.  Thus,  in  six  years  from  the  time  his 
father  turned  him  out  of  doors,  he  was  the  proprietor  of  a  prosperous 
business,  and  at  the  same  time  commanded  the  confidence  of  the 
public.  He  continued  in  this  business  until  1848,  when  the  gold 
excitement  of  California  led  him  to  sell  out  to  Mr.  Wilson.  Before 
the  papers  were  passed,  however,  the  forge  was  burned  to  the 
ground.  This  calamity  did  not  dishearten,  but  only  delayed  him. 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  421 

He  returned  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster,  cleared  away  the  ruins,  and 
built  another  forge  thereon.  Then  he  made  another  sale  to  Mr.  Wil- 
son, accepting  two  thousand  dollars  in  cash  for  his  part,  and  at  once 
started  with  a  company  of  young  men  he  organized,  one  of  whom  was 
his  brother,  for  California.  The  fire  and  subsequent  labors  had  delayed 
him  a  full  year,  but  on  July  10,  1850,  he  reached  Sacramento.  They 
repaired  immediately  to  the  mines  where  they  toiled  without  success 
for  several  months.  Then  Charles  decided  to  engage  in  the  store 
business  at  the  mines,  but  soon  removed  to  Sacramento,  where,  with 
his  brother  as  partner,  he  entered  upon  a  career  that  "  led  on  to 
fortune." 

In  October,  1852,  he  returned  to  Indiana,  and  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  J.  Deming,  in  whose  saw-mill  he  worked  so  long.  One 
week  after  his  marriage,  he  received  a  message  announcing  the 
burning  of  his  store  in  Sacramento,  and  the  total  loss  of  all  his 
goods,  the  value  of  which  was  eighty  thousand  dollars.  This  calamity 
left  him  even  poorer  than  he  was  when  he  went  to  California  ;  but 
his  pluck  and  perseverance  were  left.  He  started  immediately  for 
Sacramento  with  his  wife,  resolved  to  start  business  anew  on  arriving 
there.  His  purpose  was  promptly  executed,  and  just  as  he  was  on 
the  high  tide  of  prosperity,  a  few  months  thereafter,  the  city  was 
burned,  and  then  it  was  overflowed  with  water  to  the  depth  of  four 
or  five  feet.  But  his  pluck  was  neither  burned  nor  drowned,  and  he 
started  out  again,  charged  with  energy,  tact,  and  hope,  and  in  less 
than  two  years  he  possessed  other  thousands. 

In  1855  he  was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council  of  Sacramento, 
and  introduced  several  important  and  necessary  reforms.  In  1860  he 
represented  the  city  in  the  State  Legislature  ;  and  it  was  at  this  time 
that  he  united  with  C.  P.  Huntington,  Leland  Stanford,  and  Mark 
Hopkins  in  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  enterprise.  Having  spoken  of 
this  in  the  sketch  of  Mr.  Huntington's  life,  we  need  not  repeat  it  here. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say  that,  after  the  action  of  Congress  organizing  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  Mr.  Crocker  took  the  first  eighteen  miles  of 
the  Central  Pacific  to  build  ;  and  he  built  it,  of  course.  He  not  only 
built  that,  but  he  also  built  other  portions  of  the  road  which  other 
contractors  had  failed  to  complete.  He  organized  the  "  Contract  and 
Finance  Committee,"  and  was  elected  president  of  the  same  ;  and 
under  his  superintendence,  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  was  pushed 
through  to  Ogden.  He  built,  also,  nearly  all  the  local  railroads 
tributary  to  the  Central  Pacific  within  the  limits  of  California. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  Central    Pacific  Railroad  was 


422  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  most  gigantic  railroad  operation  in  the  whole  world,  when  the 
tremendous  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  are  considered  ;  and  it  has 
been  the  grandest  success  of  all.  The  action  of  Congress  to  assist 
the  road  was  hampered  by  the  provision  that  fifty  miles  should  be 
built  and  equipped  with  rolling  stock,  before  Congressional  aid  could 
be  available.  The  enterprise  would  have  succumbed  at  this  point, 
but  for  the  courage  and  liberality  of  Crocker  and  his  three  associates 
named  ;  for  it  required  twenty  million  dollars  to  construct  the  first 
hundred  miles.  Of  this  amount  the  government  subsidy  only  sup- 
plied five  millions,  and  Crocker  and  his  associates  were  obliged  to 
supply  the  remaining  fifteen  millions.  Add  to  this  the  tremendous 
engineering  obstacles  to  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  the  reader 
can  judge  of  the  spirit,  tact,  and  determination  equal  to  the  task. 

In  1871  Mr.  Crocker  was  elected  president  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad,  the  capital  of  which  was  increased,  under  his  admin- 
istration, in  1884,  to  one  hundred  millions,  'and  was  reorganized  with 
the  control  of  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-eight  miles  of 
railroad  and  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  five  miles  of  steam- 
ship lines,  almost  nine  thousand  miles  in  all.  The  lease  of  the 
Central  Pacific  was  included  in  this  vast  interest.  In  addition,  there 
are  the  Southern  Pacific  Companies  of  California,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico,  Morgan's  Louisiana  and  Texas  Railroad  and  Steamship 
Company,  Galveston  Harbor  and  San  Antonio  Railway,  Texas  and 
New  Orleans  Railroad  Company,  Louisiana  Western  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  the  Mexican  International  Railroad  Company  ;  all  these 
are  included  in  the  colossal  Southern  Pacific  Company,  of  which 
Charles  Crocker  is  the  animating  spirit.  The  gross  earnings  of  this 
company  in  eight  months  of  1885,  was  $19,645,892.91,  and,  after 
paying  all  expenses,  interest,  and  rentals,  the  net  surplus  was 


This  brief  and  imperfect  sketch  gives  only  a  glimpse  of  a  very 
remarkable  life,  the  marvellous  part  of  which  was  crowded  into 
thirty  years.  The  youth  who  went  out  into  the  world  without  one 
cent  in  his  pocket  in  1840,  was  a  millionnaire  in  1870,  in  spite  of 
fire  and  flood;  and,  in  1887,  he  presented  to  his  daughter,  on  her 
wedding  day,  a  costly  residence  in  New  York  City,  and  a  check  for 
one  million  dollars  f 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  423 

LELAND    STANFORD. 

.  ^ 

Ex-Governor  Leland  Stanford,  of  California,  was  born  in  the  town 
of  Watervliet,  Albany  County,  N.Y.,  March  9,  1824.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  of  an  enterprising  turn,  sound  integrity,  and  of  unblemished 
character.  His  mother  was  an  intelligent  and  noble  woman,  —  a  very 
suitable  helpmeet  for  her  industrious  and  aspiring  husband.  Their 
family  consisted  of  seven  sons  and  one  daughter.  Leland  was  the  fourth 
son,  fond  of  books  and  reading,  full  of  spirit  and  hope,  and  more  of 
a  scholar  than  either  of  his  brothers.  Schools  were  of  inferior  grade 
compared  with  schools  of  to-day  ;  but  such  as  they  were  he  enjoyed 
and  got  more  out  of  them  than  most  of  the  boys  in  the  district.  He 
loved  his  books  better  than  farming,  although  he  followed  the  latter 
with  considerable  enterprise.  He  had  his  daily  tasks  to  perform  on 
the  farm  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  work,  and  these  he  accom- 
plished with  unusual  tact  and  despatch.  Little  grass  grew  under  his 
feet,  bright  and  lively  as  he  was  ;  and  he  seemed  born  to  activity  and 
success. 

Until  twenty  years  of  age,  Leland's  time  was  divided  between  the 
school  and  farm,  and  then  he  commenced  the  study  of  law.  In 
1845,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Wheaton,  Doolittle  &  Hadley,  in 
Albany,  N.Y.  His  heart  was  set  on  becoming  a  lawyer,  so  that  he 
improved  his  opportunities  as  one  who  realized  that  he  had  no  time 
to  waste  on  trifles.  On  completing  his  studies,  the  great  West 
opened  its  arms  to  him,  as  he  thought.  The  profession  was  crowded 
in  New  York,  but  there  was  ample  room  in  the  West.  He  put  out 
his  shingle  first  in  his  native  state ;  but  the  chance  for  a  young  man 
was  comparatively  small,  and  he  soon  resolved  to  adopt  Horace 
Greeley's  advice,  —  "Go  West,  young  man!"  He  packed  up  his 
wardrobe,  books,  and  what  not,  and  off  he  started  for  Port  Washing- 
ton, Wis.  This  was  in  1849,  when  Port  Washington  was  on  the 
frontier.  Wisconsin  was  a  part  of  the  "far  West"  at  that  time, 
—  about  as  distant  as  young  men  aspired  to  go,  except  those  who 
responded  to  the  cry  of  gold  !  gold  !  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Only  one 
year  before,  gold  was  discovered  at  Sutter's  Mill  in  California,  and 
there  was  great  excitement  in  the  land  over  the  discovery.  But 
Leland  Stanford  was  not  carried  away  by  the  gold  mania.  He 
wanted  to  practise  law  ;  and  a  new,  thriving,  growing  town  in  Wis- 
consin was  a  better  place  for  that  business  than  California.  He  was 
well  pleased  with  his  new  home,  and  found  no  difficulty  in  working 
up  a  fair  business.  He  was  popular,  and  honored  by  all  who  knew 


424  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

him.  The  girls  especially  regarded  him  as  about  the  most  fasci- 
nating and  promising  young  man  they  ever  met ;  and  one  of  the  num- 
ber, Miss  Jane  Lathrop,  decided  to  unite  her  fortunes  with  his,  and 
in  1850  they  were  married.  A  good  choice,  a  good  start,  and  a 
noble  purpose,  combined  to  make  him  successful. 

But  the  gold-find  in  California  was  calling  tens  of  thousands  of 
people  to  that  El  Dorado,  and  new  towns  and  cities  were  springing 
up  like  magic.  He  saw  a  new  and  brighter  opening  there,  and 
resolved  at  once  to  make  the  most  of  his  opportunity.  Some  of  his 
best  friends  were  going  thither,  too,  and  here  was  another  induce- 
ment, to  keep  them  company.  He  settled  up  his  business,  packed 
his  effects,  and  started  for  Sacramento,  where  he  landed  July  12, 
1852.  Wasting  no  time  in  deciding  whether  he  should  practise  law 
or  delve  for  gold,  he  left  Sacramento  for  the  mines  at  Michigan  Bluff, 
on  the  American  River,  Placer  County.  It  proved  that  he  was 
exceedingly  fortunate  in  selecting  a  place  for  mining,  for  he  stepped 
right  into  success  with  scarcely  an  introduction.  Not  only  wealth, 
but  popularity,  flowed  in  upon  him,  to  his  surprise.  His  ability,  tact, 
enterprise,  and  real  worth,  won  him  friends  on  every  hand.  His 
public  spirit,  as  well  as  his  fearless  advocacy  of  Republican  prin- 
ciples, pushed  him  to  the  front.  In  1859  the  Republican  party 
nominated  him  for  State  Treasurer,  but  the  Democratic  candidate 
defeated  him.  The  Democratic  party  had  never  been  beaten  at  that 
time ;  and  it  was  reserved  for  Leland  Stanford  to  accomplish  this 
feat  in  1861,  when  the  Republicans  nominated  him  for  governor,  and 
he  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  twenty-three  thousand  votes.  He 
became  the  most  popular  governor  that  California  had  ever  had, 
and  was  respected  and  honored  by  all  classes. 

About  this  time  he  became  interested  in  the  Central  Pacific  Rail- 
road, as  we  have  seen.  In  Feb.  22  of  that  year, — Washington's 
birthday,  —  he  threw  the  first  shovelful  of  dirt  in  the  construction  of 
that  road  ;  and  on  May  10,  1869,  he  drove  the  last  spike  at  Promon- 
tory Point,  Utah,  where  the  Central  and  Union  Pacific  united  their 
destinies  in  a  grand  transcontinental  line. 

Since  that  time  Mr.  Stanford  has  been  prominent  in  the  history  of 
our  country,  not  only  as  one  of  its  wealthiest,  but  one  of  its  most 
remarkable  men.  His  wealth  is  counted  by  tens  of  millions,  and 
both  in  his  State  and  nation  he  is  a  man  of  influence  and  power. 
He  has  not  only  served  his  State,  but  his  nation,  also,  in  Congress. 
In  every  position,  he  has  proved  himself  efficient  and  true,  worthy  of 
the  confidence  of  his  countrymen.  He  has  recently  given  to  the 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  425 

State  of  California  twenty  million  dollars  to  establish  and  support  a 
university  at  Palo  Alto.  The  purpose  of  the  university  is  stated  in 
his  own  words,  as  follows  :  — 

"I  intend  that  the  Stanford  University  shall  not  only  give  one  a 
classical  education,  but  that  under  its  roof  one  may  learn  telegraphy, 
type-setting,  type-writing,  journalism,  book-keeping,  farming,  civil 
engineering,  etc.  For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  its  inception, 
young  men,  graduates  of  Harvard,  Yale,  and  other  Eastern  colleges, 
used  to  call  upon  me,  bearing  letters  of  introduction,  and  asking  me 
to  find  employment  for  them.  I  would  learn  on  examination  that, 
while  their  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin,  logic  and  metaphysics, 
might  be  thorough,  they  were  actually  helpless-  so  far  as  practical 
knowledge  went.  They  were  willing  to  learn,  it  is  true  ;  but  the 
world  is  full  of  unskilled  labor,  and  so  I  was  forced  to  put  them  on 
the  railroad  as  conductors,  brakemen,  and  firemen,  in  order  that  they 
might  become  self-supporting.  I  then  conceived  the  idea  of  a  univer- 
sity from  which  young  men  could  graduate  fully  equipped  for  the 
battle  of  life,  in  whatever  direction  the  taste  might  run." 

Including  his  estate  at  Palo  Alto,  his  munificent  gift  will  amount 
to  twenty-five  million  dollars.  The  corner-stone  of  the  university 
was  laid  on  May  14,  1887,  which  was  the  nineteenth  birthday  of  Mr. 
Stanford's  son  ;  and  the  various  structures  will  be  so  far  advanced 
by  January,  1889,  as  to  accommodate  several  hundred  students. 

SIDNEY   DILLON. 

Sidney  Dillon  was  president  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  several 
years,  a  representative  man,  whose  life  has  been  identified  with  large 
public  works.  He  was  born  in  Northampton,  Montgomery  County, 
N.Y.,  May  7,  1812,  seventy-five  years  ago.  His  father  was  a  farmer 
in  good  circumstances,  and  of  decided  influence  in  his  town.  His 
grandfather  was  ditto,  a  Christian  man  of  unblemished  character,  as 
patriotic  as  he  was  industrious,  for  he  was  a  brave  soldier  of  the 
American  revolution.  The  mother  and  grandmother 'were  women  of 
intelligence  and  great  worth,  who  left  their  impress  upon  their 
posterity. 

Sidney  took  his  turn  on  the  farm,  and  proved  himself  competent 
even  in  his  boyhood.  His  father  and  mother  set  a  high  value  upon 
the  education  which  even  the  poor  schools  of  that  day  afforded,  and 
provided  him  with  every  opportunity  possible.  But  out  of  school  he 
was  expected  to  work ;  nor  was  he  at  all  disinclined  to  labor  on  the 


426  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

farm;  for  he  had  "a  heart  for  any  work."  His  ambition,  however, 
looked  beyond  the  farm.  His  enterprising  spirit  soared  higher ;  and 
when  he  was  not  more  than  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age  he  became 
an  errand  boy  on  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  Railroad.  This  was  the 
first  railroad  constructed  in  the  State  of  New  York.  It  run  from 
Albany  to  Schenectady.  Sidney  was  greatly  pleased  with  his  new 
business,  and  the  business  was  pleased  with  him.  His  pay  was 
small ;  but  it  was  a  good  school  for  him  ;  and  he  so  regarded  it.  His 
sharp  observation  enabled  him  to  learn  many  things  outside  of  his 
daily  routine  of  duties.  This  quality  developed  him  rapidly,  so  that 
he  was  fitted  for  a  higher  position  while  he  served  as  errand  boy. 
Hence  we  find  him  within  two  or  three  years  in  a  more  responsible 
position  on  the  Rensselaer  and  Saratoga  Railroad.  Here  the  same 
attention  to  business,  and  the  same  efficiency  in  doing  it,  character- 
ized him.  In  consequence,  the  attention  of  a  railroad  contractor  was 
directed  to  him,  and  he  hired  him  to  oversee  a  section  of  the  Boston 
and  Providence  Railroad,  which  he  was  to  build.  He  proved  himself 
to  be  so  efficient  here  that  he  was  subsequently  employed  to  oversee 
the  execution  of  contracts  upon  other  railroads. 

In  1838  he  himself  became  a  contractor,  undertaking  a  job  which 
lasted  nearly  two  years.  He  did  well  for  himself  in  this,  and  well 
for  the  company.  From  that  time  he  was  not  under  the  necessity  of 
seeking  contracts,  for  contracts  sought  him.  He  built  two  miles  of 
the  Troy  and  Schenectady  Railroad,  twenty-six  miles  of  the  Hartford 
and  Springfield,  six  miles  of  the  Cheshire,  and  ten  miles  of  the 
Vermont  and  Massachusetts.  And  here  is  only  a  part  of  his  railroad 
work;  for  he  assisted  the  construction  of  the  Rutland  and  Burlington  ; 
Central  of  New  Jersey;  the  Morris  Canal;  the  Boston  and  New  York 
Central ;  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie ;  the  Erie  and  Cleveland  ;  the 
Morris  and  Essex ;  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie ;  the  Iowa ;  the 
New  Orleans,  Mobile,  and  Chattanooga ;  the  Canada  Southern  ;  the 
Union  Pacific  ;  and  how  many  more  he  only  knows.  What  he  had 
accomplished  only  sharpened  his  appetite  for  greater  achievements ; 
for  then  he  Contracted  for  the  "  Fourth  Avenue  Improvement," 
New  York,  which  involved  $7,000,000.  This  was  a  work  of  such 
magnitude  that  few  contractors  could  undertake  it.  But  it  was 
easier  for  him  than  a  game  of  chess.  It  was  a  great  job  ;  but  he  was 
greater  than  the  job.  The  work  was  done,  and  well  done,  under  his 
faithful  administration.  The  foregoing  experience  had  just  fitted 
him  to  be  president  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  which  office  he 
filled  as  well  as  he  had  all  inferior  ones.  It  is  claimed  that  he  has 


MARVELS  OF  ENTERPRISE.  42? 

been  engaged  in  over  forty  of  the  great  public  works  of  our  country, 
and  that  his  contracts  have  amounted  to  one  hundred  million  dol- 
lars. 

DAVID    H.    MOFFAT. 

David  H.  Moffat,  of  Denver,  Colorado,  was  born  at  Washington- 
ville,  Orange  County,  N.Y.,  in  the  year  1839.  When  fifteen  years 
old,  he  went  to  New  York,  and  commenced  his  business  career  as  a 
messenger  boy  in  the  New  York  Exchange  Bank.  After  working 
in  that  capacity  for  one  year,  he  went  West,  and  took  a  position  as 
clerk  in  the  banking  house  of  A.  J.  Stevens  &  Co.,  of  Des  Moines, 
Iowa.  Remaining  with  them  a  short  time,  he  was  offered  a  better 
place  with  the  Bank  of  Nebraska,  at  Omaha,  which  he  accepted,  and 
was  finally  appointed  cashier.  After  filling  that  office  for  four  years, 
with  credit  to  himself  and  profit  to  the  bank,  he  wound  up  the  busi- 
ness, paying  all  indebtedness  in  full  and  a  handsome  dividend  to  the 
stockholders.  At  that  time  (1860)  the  Pike's  Peak  fever  was  raging, 
and  Mr.  Moffat  bought  some  mules  and  a  wagon,  joined  a  company 
organized  in  Omaha,  and  went  with  them  across  the  plains  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  new  El  Dorado.  This  was  before  the  days  of  rail- 
roads, and  he  experienced  all  the  hardships  and  suffering  attending 
a  journey,,  where  the  road  was  infested  with  hostile  Indians,  and 
lined  with  the  graves  of  their  victims  and  men  who  had  succumbed 
to  exposure  and  starvation. 

Arriving  in  Denver,  when  it  consisted  solely  of  a  camp  of  gold 
prospectors  located  on  the  banks  of  the  Platte,  in  company  with 
C.  C.  Woolworth,  of  .New  York,  he  started  a  book  and  stationery 
store,  which  he  ran  for  six  years,  and  established  a  large  and  profit- 
able business.  He  retired  from  this  in  1866,  to  take  the  position  of 
cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Denver.  In  1881  he  was 
elected  president,  and  has  been  closely  identified  with  that  institu- 
tion up  to  the  present  time,  and  his  administrative  ability  has  made 
it  the  strongest  and  most  conservative  national  bank  between 
Chicago  and  San  Francisco.  It  has  a  capital  and  surplus  of  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  three  million  dollars  of  deposits. 

He  became  largely  interested  in  mining  in  Leadville,  in  1878,  by 
purchasing  an  interest  in  the  famous  "  Little  Pittsburg,"  with  the 
late  Hon.  J.  B.  Chaffee.  The  next  year  they  bought  H.  A.  W. 
Tabor's  interest  in  said  mine,  —  an  enterprise  that  proved  financially 
a  great  success. 


428  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

But  Mr.  Moffat's  forte  lies  in  another  direction — railroading.  At 
the  present  time  he  holds  the  presidency  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  Railroad,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in  1884.  He  has 
been  prominently  connected  with  all  the  leading  railroad  enterprises 
of  Colorado.  In  1869,  together  with  Governor  Evans,  he  built  the 
Denver  Pacific  from  Cheyenne  to  Denver,  without  which  Denver 
would  have  lost  its  supremacy,  and  its  business  would  have  centred 
at  Cheyenne.  He,  with  others,  organized  the  syndicate  of  Denver  cap- 
italists, who  built  the  Denver  and  South  Park  Railroad  to  Leadville, 
which  at  one  time  was  the  best  paying  railroad  in  the  world.  He 
also  furnished  a  large  amount  of  capital  to  build  the  Denver  and  New 
Orleans  Railroad,  which  will  ultimately. give  Denver  a  through  line 
to  New  Orleans.  While  Mr.  Moffat  has  amassed  a  large  fortune  en- 
tirely through  his  own  efforts,  having  started  in  life  a  poor  boy 
without  a  dollar,  he  has  always  extended  a  helping  hand  to  others. 
The  present  unexampled  growth  and  prosperity  of  Denver  and  Colo- 
rado is  largely  owing  to  his  public  spirit  and  enterprise. 

In  spite  of  his  wonderful  business  career,  which  would  have  worn 
out  many  men,  he  is  comparatively  a  young  man,  being  but  forty- 
eight  years  of  age,  —  an  early  age  for  the  many  prominent  positions 
he  has  held  in  the  leading  railroad  and  financial  institutions  of  the 
West.  Should  he  live  twenty  years  longer,  and  retain  the  same 
business  capacity  and  energy  of  his  past  life,  his  fortune  and  influ- 
ence will  not  be  excelled  by  any  of  the  railroad  magnates  of  the 
country. 


IV.    MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


THE  discovery  of  gold  in  the  New  West,  in  1848,  came  about  in 
this  way.  John  A.  Sutter,  a  Swede,  drifted  to  this  country,  and 
settled  in  California  in  1839.  He  was  a  very  enterprising,  industri- 
ous, and  successful  pioneer ;  and,  in  1848,  he  was  the  owner  of  a  flour 
mill,  saw-mill,  tannery,  and  a  large  tract  of  land  on  which  his  many 
thousand  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep  grazed. 

In  his  employ  was  one  James  W.  Marshall,  in  whose  imagination 
floated  visions  of  gold.  He  believed  that  there  was  a  plenty  of  it  in 
that  country  waiting  to  be  discovered.  He  was  a  mechanic,  and  built 
Sutter's  saw-mill,  which  commenced  running  in  January,  1848.  On 
the  second  day  of  February  Marshall  shut  the  water  off,  when  he  dis- 
covered particles  of  shining  dust  in  the  race-way.  "  Gold  !  gold  !  " 
he  said  within  himself  under  great  excitement,  and  at  once  instituted 
an  examination,  the  result  of  which  was  an  ounce  of  gold  picked  up 
in  the  race-way  and  dug  from  the  crevices  of  rocks.  He  was  almost 
beside  himself  with  excitement.  Mounting  a  horse,  he  dashed  away 
to  report  to  Captain  Sutter,  who  was  at  his  home-fort,  forty  miles 
distant.  It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  he  reached  the  fort,  and 
rain  was  descending  in  torrents. 

Leaping  from  his  horse,  he  said  to  Captain  Sutter,  hurriedly  and 
excitedly,  — 

"Captain,  I  want  to  see  you  alone." 

Sutter  conducted  him  into  a  vacant  apartment,  and  closed  the 
door. 

"Are  you  sure  no  one  will  intrude?  Lock  the  door,"  continued 
Marshall,  so  excited  as  to  awaken  Sutter's  suspicion  that  he  was 
crazy. 

Sutter  locked  the  door,  and  assured  his  friend  that  no  one  could 
hear  or  see  them. 

Stepping  up  to  the  table,  Marshall  poured  from  a  pouch  his  ounce 
of  gold. 

"  Gold  !  gold  !  That  is  gold  !  "  he  exclaimed,  scarcely  realizing 
whether  he  was  in  the  flesh  or  out. 


430  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  ? "  inquired  Sutter. 

Marshall  rehearsed  the  events  of  the  day,  and  his  discovery  of 
gold  in  the  race-way,  enjoining  profound  secrecy  upon  the  captain. 

"But  you  do  not  know  that  it  is  gold,"  suggested  Sutter.  "  I  have 
my  doubts  about  it." 

After  some  discussion,  however,  Captain  Sutter  settled  the  matter 
by  the  application  of  aqua  fortis.  The  test  showed  it  to  be  gold. 

Now  Marshall's  excitement  reached  its  climax,  and  in  vain  did 
Captain  Sutter  entreat  him  to  stop  over  night.  He  must  return 
immediately,  and  insisted  that  Sutter  should  accompany  him.  The 
latter  peremptorily  declined  to  go  with  him  in  the  driving  rain,  but 
promised  to  go  in  the  morning.  Marshall  started  back,  and  Sutter 
went  to  bed,  though  not  to  sleep. 

Early  in  the  morning,  the  storm  having  passed  away,  Captain 
Sutter  hurried  away  to  the  mill-race.  When  within  ten  miles  of  it, 
he  met  Marshall  on  foot. 

"That  you,  Marshall?"  exclaimed  Sutter.  "What  are  you  here 
for?" 

"  I  was  so  impatient  to  see  you  that  I  walked  this  distance  to  meet 
you,"  —  a  reply  which  showed  how  great  was  the  excitement  under 
which  he  was  laboring. 

On  arriving  at  the  mill-race,  they  found  all  the  men  engaged  in 
gathering  gold.  Realizing  that  the  gold-find  might  create  so  much 
excitement  as  to  compel  the  stoppage  of  his  flour  and  saw  mills  and 
tannery,  as  well  as  all  labor  upon  his  immense  ranch,  he  called  the 
men  together,  and  exacted  a  promise  of  secrecy  for  six  weeks,  during 
which  time  they  should  faithfully  attend  to  their  labors  in  the  mills, 
tannery,  and  on  the  farm.  But  such  a  secret  could  not  be  kept.  In 
a  few  days  the  news  was  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  the  rush  to 
this  Eldorado  was  without  a  parallel.  Slitter's  men  forsook  his  mills 
and  ranch  to  search  for  gold  ;  and  all  his  interests  were  left  to 
neglect  and  ruin.  Gold-seekers  struck  anywhere  upon  his  ranch 
they  pleased,  and  it  was  almost  literally  dug  up.  Without  leave  or 
license,  they  appropriated  any  part  of  his  wide  domain  to  their  own 
use.  They  even  stole,  killed,  and  ate  his  flocks  and  herds,  helped 
themselves  to  his  large  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  and  potatoes,  spoiled  his 
fur  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  his  hide  and  leather  traffic  with  the 
East,  and  left  everything  a  wreck.  Sutter  was  forced  to  resort  to 
the  law  to  re-establish  his  claims,  in  which  litigation  he  spent  his 
last  dollar,  and  finally,  after  some  years  of  hard  struggle  with 
poverty,  he  died. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  431 

Marshall  was  no  more  fortunate.  He  gathered  some  gold,  but  it 
slipped  out  of  his  hands,  so  that,  in  the  end,  he  derived  no  pecuniary 
profit  from  his  valuable  discovery.  Hence  it  has  been  said,  that  the 
discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific  Slope  ruined  both  the  discoverer 
and  the  owner  of  the  land  on  which  it  was  found. 

General  Sutter,  whose  name  the  mill  bears,  settled  here  over  fifty 
years  ago,  under  a  grant  from  the  Russian  government.  That  grant 
conveyed  to  him  large  tracts  of  land,  including  the  site  of  Sacramento, 
of  which  Sutter's  Mill,  or  HOCH  FARM,  as  it  was  called,  was  a  part. 
Of  course,  he  was  really  a  rich  man  ;  but  swindlers  made  him  a  poor 
one,  and  he  died  a  pauper.  Mr.  Charles  Nordhoff  visited  the  place 
in  1873,  and  speaks  thus  of  it  :  "You  may  still  see  his  grove  of  fig- 
trees,  under  whose  shade  the  country  people  now  hold  their  picnics  ; 
his  orchards,  which  still  bear  fruit ;  and  his  house,  which  is  now  a 
country  tavern.  Of  all  his  many  leagues  of  land,  the  old  man  has 
but  a  few  acres  left  ;  and  of  the  thousands  who  now  own  and  inhabit 
what  once  was  his,  not  a  dozen  would  recognize  him,  and  many  scarce- 
ly know  his  name.  His  riches  melted  away  as  did  those  of  the  great 
Spanish  proprietors  ;  and  he  who  only  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
owned  a  territory  larger  than  some  of  the  States,  and  counted  his 
cattle  by  the  thousands,  —  if,  indeed,  he  ever  counted  them,  —  who 
lived  in  a  fort,  like  a  European  noble  of  the  feudal  times,  had  an 
army  of  Indians  at  his  command,  and  occasionally  made  war  upon 
the  predatory  tribes  who  were  his  neighbors,  now  lives  upon  a  small 
annuity  granted  by  the  State  of  California." 

Five  thousand  men  were  at  work  in  the  mines  before  the  close  of 
the  year  1848,  and  the  product  of  their  labor  was  Jive  million  dollars, 
an  average  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  a  man.  There  were  about  two 
thousand  men  living  in  San  Francisco  in  January,  1848,  all  but  five 
of  whom  left  for  the  gold-field. 

No  doubt  there  was  much  exaggeration  in  regard  to  the  richness 
of  the  mines  ;  at  any  rate,  many  adventurers  risked  life  itself  to 
reach  the  land  of  gold,  expecting  to  fill  their  pockets  daily  with  the 
precious  metal.  And  yet,  the  real  facts  in  the  case  were  marvellous. 
Gold  was  found  in  so  large  quantities,  that  the  five  thousand  seekers 
in  '48  believed  there  was  enough  for  every  man  who  might  come. 
Two  ounces  per  day  was  but  an  ordinary  yield  for  each  man,  and 
many  did  much  better  than  that.  As  the  value  of  gold  was  twelve 
dollars  per  ounce  in  cash  and  sixteen  dollars  in  trade,  their  hard 
labor  was  very  remunerative.  Colonel  Mason,  who  made  an  exami- 
nation of  the  mines  for  the  government,  confirmed,  in  his  official 


432  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


SUTTER'S  MILL. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


433 


report,  their  reputation  for  richness  and  magnitude.  He  said  that 
the  leading  store  at  Sutler's  Fort  in  nine  weeks  received  thirty-six 
thousand  dollars  in  gold-dust,  in  exchange  for  goods  ;  and  that  two 
men  took  out  of  a  small  ravine  seventeen  thousand  dollars  in  seven 
days.  He  relates  that  seven  miners  hired  fifty  Indians  to  work  for 
them  seven  weeks.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  they  had  two  hundred 
and  seventy-three  pounds  of  pure  gold,  the  cash  value  of  which  was 
nearly  forty  thousand  dollars.  Some  men,  on  some  days,  made  a 
hundred  dollars  each,  and  even  more.  A  miner  pulled  up  a  bush  one 
day,  and  shook  the  earth  from 
its  roots  into  his  pan,  as  a 
farmer  pulls  and  shakes  a  hill 
of  potatoes,  and  the  yield  of 
gold  from  that  bush  was  near- 
ly fifty  dollars.  In  1850,  a 
nugget  of  gold  was  found  in 
Nevada  County,  valued  at 
three  hundred  and  twelve 
dollars.  In  Columbia  Dis- 
trict, the  same  year,  several 
nuggets  of  even  greater  value 
were  picked  up,  one  of  them 
weighing  twenty-three 
pounds.  It  was  not  unusual 
for  a  piece  of  ground  ten  feet 
square  to  yield  ten  thousand 
dollars  from  the  surface-dirt. 
Many  facts  of  this  kind  prove  that 
gold  was  plentiful,  however  much 
exaggeration  there  was  connected 
with  its  discovery.  The  subsequent 
history  of  mining  on  the  Pacific  Coast  proves,  also,  that  the  facts  are 
marvellous.  Since  the  discovery  of  gold  there  in  1848  the  product 
of  the  mines  of  California  to  the  present  time  exceeds  $1,200,000,000  ! 
Marshall's  ounce  of  gold-dust  assured  the  speedy  settlement  and 
growth  of  the  New  West.  "Money  makes  the  mare  go,"  is  an  old 
maxim  that  has  been  wonderfully  illustrated  in  the  progress  of 
Christian  civilization  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region. 

There  were  scarcely  two  thousand  Americans  in  California  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1848;  in  December  there  were  six  thousand;  in  July,  1849, 
fifteen  thousand ;  and  in  December  of  that  year,  fifty-tJircc  thousand. 
It  was  claimed  that  the  rush  of  men  to  California,  in  five  years  after 


OFF  FOR  THE  MINES. 


434  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  discovery  of  gold,  was  so  immense  as  to  remove  the  centre  of 
our  country's  population  eighty-one  miles  west.  Then  the  inhabi- 
tants of  California  numbered  three  hundred  thousand,  and  nearly  two 
liundred  and  seventy  million  dollars  had  been  extracted  from  the 
mines.  The  author  of  that  valuable  work,  "  Mining  Camps,"  says : 
"The  summer  of  1849  saw  no  less  than  five  hundred  and  forty-nine 
sea-going  vessels  in  the  port  of  San  Francisco.  In  the  month  of 
August,  four  hundred  large  ships  were  idly  swinging  at  anchor,  desti- 
tute of  crews  ;  for  their  sailors  had  deserted,  swam  ashore,  escaped 
to  the  gold-fields.  Thirty-five  thousand  men  came  by  sea,  and  forty- 
two  thousand  by  land,  during  the  year.  Australia,  the  Asian  coasts, 
Africa,  and  South  America  contributed  to  the  motley  host  that 
thronged  the  roads  to  the  placers."  Prices  were  fabulous :  a  shirt, 
$25;  a  comb,  $6;  barrel  of  mess  pork,  $220;  dozen  sardines,  $35  ;  a 
hundred  pounds  of  flour,  $75  ;  a  candle,  $3  ;  tin  pan,  $9 ;  shovel,  $10 ; 
pick,  $15. 

Ten  years  later,  the  discovery  of  gold  in  what  is  now  Colorado 
created  another  "  unparalleled  excitement,"  as  we  have  already  seen. 
As  Colorado  was  more  accessible  than  California,  the  rush  of  pro- 
spectors was  much  larger.  They  poured  into  the  gold-fields  by  tens 
of  thousands.  Many  even  left  the  mines  of  California  for  richer 
ones,  as  they  supposed,  in  Colorado.  No  amount  of  hardship  and 
suffering  could  deter  the  tide  of  immigration.  Many  of  the  gold 
seekers  were  the  most  intelligent  and  substantial  men  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  from  the  East,  West,  and  South.  Unwittingly  they  came 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  an  empire.  They  were  the  modern  Argo- 
nauts, who  sought  only  "the  golden  fleece,"  but  developed  the  rich- 
est, fairest,  grandest  country  on  earth. 

Beginning  at  Cherry  Creek,  near  the  site  of  Denver,  this  army 
of  prospectors  scoured  the  "  Plains "  and  penetrated  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  searching  for  gold.  Clear  Creek  Canon,  Boulder,  Cali- 
fornia Gulch,  and  a  large  number  of  other  localities  "opened  rich," 
augmenting  the  excitement  with  the  increase  of  the  gold-product. 
Then  followed  the  discovery  of  silver,  which  was  as  unexpected  as  it 
was  fortunate,  opening  new  fields  of  research,  and  bringing  other 
thousands  of  enthusiastic  toilers  into  the  Territory. 

At  the  same  time,  the  prospector  was  abroad  in  Arizona,  Nevada, 
Utah,  New  Mexico,  Montana,  Idaho,  and,  indeed,  throughout  the 
whole  country  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific  Ocean; 
and  the  news  of  rich  mines  in  all  these  localities  spread  wildly  over 
the  land.  Untold  millions  of  precious  stones  and  metals  were  treas- 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  435 

ured  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  and  the  key  was  found  with 
which  to  open  the  vaults.  Throughout  the  vast  territory  which  the 
United  States  government  purchased  of  France  and  Mexico  for 
about  thirty  million  dollars  (two  cents  per  acre)  was  made  the  disclo- 
sure of  unparalleled  resources  in  gold  and  silver.  This  was  especially 
true  of  Colorado,  from  whose  mines  alone  have  been  taken  seven 
times  as  many  dollars  as  the  government  paid  to  France  and  Mexico 
for  their  mammoth  claims  in  what  we  now  call  the  New  West. 
Since  that  day  of  small  beginnings  in  the  gold  harvest  on  Cherry 
Creek,  the  mines  of  the  Centennial  State  have  yielded  over  two  hun- 
dred million  dollars.  Colorado  has  mines  which  have  yielded  fabu- 
lous amounts  in  a  short  time.  In  eighteen  months,  prior  to  1880,  the 
Little  Pittsburg  yielded  ($3,800,000)  three  million  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  the  Little  Chief,  in  the  same  period  ($2,056,292) 
two  million  fifty-six  thousand  two  hundred  ninety-two  dollars ;  the 
Chrysolite,  in  fifteen  months  ($2,100,000)  two  million  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  the  Gregory,  seven  millions  in  sixteen  years  ;  and 
the  Bobtail,  five  millions  ir  fifteen  years. 

In,  1883  the  bullion  pr  .met  of  Colorado  was  ($26,376,562)  twenty- 
six  million  three  hund  d  seventy-six  thousand  five  hundred  and 
sixty-two  dollars,  nearly  the  amount  which  our  government  paid  to 
France  and  Mexico  for  the  immense  territory  spoken  of.  In  1884, 
the  amount  was  somewhat  diminished,  but  amounted  to  ($20,233,749) 
twenty  million  two  hundred  thirty-three  thousand  seven  hundred 
forty-nine  dollars.  In  1885,  its  bullion  product  was  ($22,500,000) 
twenty-two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Colorado  took  the 
lead  of  all  the  States  and  Territories  in  bullion  product  in  1880,  Cali- 
fornia taking  the  second  place,  and  Nevada  the  third  place.  Colorado 
has  stood  at  the  head  of  the  column  ever  since. 

In  eight  years  (from  1859  to  1867)  the  Comstock  lode  in  Nevada 
yielded  the  enormous  sum  of  ($66,000,000)  sixty-six  million  dollars. 
It  was  thought  in  1867  that  this  could  not  be  beat ;  and  yet  this  lode 
largely  advanced  its  production  in  the  next  twelve  years.  For  in 
twenty  years  from  1859,  its  production  reached  the  startling  figures 
($385,000,000)  three  hundred  eighty-five  million  dollars,  — an  annual 
average  product  of  over  ($19,000,000)  nineteen  million  dollars. 

With  this  production  of  vast  wealth,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  first 
"Industrial  and  Mining  Exposition"  ever  known  in  the  world  should 
be  opened  in  the  New  West,  where  twenty-five  years  before  there 
spread  out  the  most  barren  waste  of  the  whole  region.  Had  a  prophet 
of  a  generation  ago  foretold  that  the  first  great  mining  exposition  in 


436  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  history  of  nations  would  be  opened  on  the  desert  lying  between 
the  Missouri  River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  his  prophecy  would 
have  been  regarded  too  ludicrous  to  provoke  even  a  smile.  And  yet 
we  are  able  to  furnish  an  account  of  just  that  occurrence,  accom- 
panied with  a  good  illustration  of  the  costly  and  beautiful  Exposition 
Building,  which  rose  like  magic,  in  1882,  upon  a  location  so  recently 
abandoned  to  the  support  of  the  buffalo  and  savage,  and  which  stands 
to-day  a  monument  of  the  industry  and  wealth  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  under  the  shadow  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  Industrial  Exposition  Building,  a  view  of  which  is  shown  on  the 
following  page,  is  500  feet  in  length  by  310  in  extreme  width.  The 
amount  of  space  available  for  exhibition  purposes  is  82,230  square 
feet  on  the  ground  floor,  and  33,850  in  the  gallery,  amounting  in  all 
to  about  three  acres.  The  construction  of  the  building  required 
3,250,000  bricks,  1,250,000  feet  of  lumber,  700  boxes  of  window  glass, 
50,000  pounds  of  nails,  and  over  three  acres  of  tin  roofing.  Power 
is  furnished  for  machinery  by  a  25o-horse-power  Corliss  engine,  the 
boilers  of  which  are  located  in  a  separate  building,  50  x  50  feet  in 
size.  •  Besides  the  engine-house,  there  are  several  large  annexes  for 
agricultural  implements,  machinery,  etc.  Steam  and  water  are 
carried  to  all  parts  of  the  building,  and  it  is  lighted  at  night  by  the 
Weston  electric  light.  It  is  truly  an  artistic  structure,  and  is  located 
on  six  acres  of  ground,  two  miles  or  more  from  City  Hall,  which  the 
Association  purchased  of  the  commissioners  of  Arapahoe  County  for 
$25,000.  The  cost  of  the  building  was  ($150,000)  one  hundred  fifty 
thousand  dollars. 

The  first  exposition  was  opened  Aug.  i,  and  closed  Oct.  i,  1882. 
Each  year  since  an  exposition  has  been  opened  at  the  same  season 
of  the  year,  and  continued  about  the  same  length  of  time,  each 
one  eclipsing  its  predecessor  in  the  magnitude  of  its  exhibit.  While 
mining  products  were  made  a  specialty,  all  the  industries  of  Colo- 
rado and  the  New  West  were  largely  represented.  At  the  first 
exposition,  4,551  mines  were  represented,  from  which  678  tons  of  ore 
were  shown,  the  estimated  value  of  which  was  $718,850.  The  exhi- 
bition was  a  surprise  even  to  those  well  acquainted  with  mining. 
Hon.  W.  D.  Kelley  delivered  the  address  at  the  opening  of  the  first 
exposition,  and  he  began  by  saying :  — 

"  The  splendors  of  Palmyra  and  the  desert  pale  before  a  recital 
of  the  brief  history  of  Colorado.  Ten  years  ago,  I  spent  some  weeks 
in  traversing  your  beautiful  State,  and  became  familiar  with  every- 
thing of  note  in  Denver,  its  metropolis ;  and,  as  yesterday  morning  I 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


437 


looked  upon 
the  city  again, 
I  felt  that  I 
could  not  safe- 
ly  trust  my 
own  senses.  I 
I  wondered 
whether  I  was 
not  under  the 
dominion  of 
magi,  and  that 
fairies  and 
genii  were 
playing  tricks  _ 
with  my  vision,  c 

J  in 

History     may    ^ 
be  challenged,    * 
and  challenged    3 
in   vain,  for   a    ^ 
parallel  to  the    § 
progress  made    £ 
by  this  city  in    5 
its  brief  period,    p 
in    wealth,    in 
arts,  in  all  the 
elements    of 
modern      and 
advancing  civ- 
ilization. 

"Standing 
here  on  the 
western  b  o  r  - 
ders  of  what 
was  called  but 
a  few  years 
ago  the  desert 
plain,  and  in 

the  shadow  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  with  an  elevation  of  more 
than  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  we  mark  in  the 
opening  of  this  exhibition  the  entrance  of  a  new  era  in  history,  more 
brilliant  than  any  of  its  predecessors,  and  more  beneficent,  inas- 


438 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


much  as  it  will  open  the  blessings  of  civilization  to  portions  of  the 
people  who  have  hitherto  failed  to  receive  them." 

First  of  all,  in  the  mining  business,  appears  the  "prospector." 
He  is  one  who  searches  for  mines.  Although  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  California,  in  1848,  and  in  Colorado,  ten  years  later,  was  acci- 
dental, as  miners  say,  yet  these  discoveries  created  a  new  class  of 
workers;  viz.,  prospectors.  Mines  do  not  "lie  around  loose,"  to 
be  stumbled  upon  by  ignorant  and  unenterprising  men  ;  they  are 


found  generally  by  the  most  painstaking  and  wearisome  labors. 
To-day  some  mines  are  found  where  they  were  searched  for  in  vain 
twenty  years  ago.  Investigation,  experience,  and  science  have  con- 
tributed a  fund  of  knowledge  to  make  the  researches  of  the  pros- 
pector easier  and  surer. 

The  prospector  may  be  a  native  or  foreigner ;  an  ignorant  ad- 
venturer or  a  graduate  of  Harvard  or  Yale  ;  a  man  who  expects  to 
make  a  "lucky  strike,"  or  one  who  knows  that  industry  and  perse- 
verance alone  will  hew  his  way  to  success.  The  great  majority  of 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  439 

the  former  class  have  found  their  level  in  poverty  or  the  grave,  leav- 
ing the  field  of  exploration  open  for  the  more  intelligent  and  enter- 
prising to  occupy. 

In  the  autumn  of  1883,  we  met  a  very  interesting  young  man  of 
thirty  years  in  Chalk  Creek,  Colorado.  He  had  been  a  successful 
schoolmaster  and  prospector,  but  for  several  months  had  been  work- 
ing his  "  claim."  The  following  was  the  story  of  his  success  :  — 

He  was  a  teacher  for  several  years  in  a  large  city  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  There  were  two  other  schoolmasters  in  the  same  city, 
about  his  age,  both  of  them  very  efficient  in  their  profession.  Each 
of  them  had  laid  by  three  or  four  thousand  dollars,  when  one  of  the 
number,  who  had  read  and  studied  much  about  mining,  proposed  a 
prospecting  tour  in  Colorado  during  the  approaching  summer  vaca- 
tion. The  result  was  a  decision  to  abandon  school-keeping  for 
mining  at  the  expiration  of  that  school-year. 

Having  decided  to  follow  mining  as  their  life-business,  they 
started  out  with  their  "  gripsacks,"  prepared  to  walk  any  distance 
that  was  necessary,  or  to  ride  in  car  or  stage,  or  on  mule  or  buck- 
board,  as  the  case  might  be.  They  must  find  a  mine.  They  ex- 
pected to  find  one.  They  did  find  one. 

After  prospecting  for  several  months  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
without  meeting  with  the  success  which  their  ambition  coveted,  they 
heard  of  a  mine  up  in  Chalk  Creek  that  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
owners  for  want  of  money  to  work  it.  Thither  they  repaired,  insti- 
tuted a  thorough  examination,  and  became  satisfied  that  the  parties 
abandoned  the  enterprise  when  they  were  on  the  eve  of  success. 
They  bought  the  mine  for  a  song,  and  within  a  few  weeks  were 
extracting  gold  in  sufficient  quantities  to  assure  their  fortunes. 
They  proved  themselves  as  efficient  in  the  mining  industry  as  they 
did  in  school-keeping.  Their  intelligence,  tact,  and  persistent  efforts 
run  the  mine  as  easily  as  they  did  the  school. 

In  a  town  on  the  Pacific  slope,  a  minister  rehearsed  the  following 
incident  to  the  writer.  A  few  Sabbaths  before,  a  stranger  came  into 
his  congregation,  wearing  long  unkempt  hair  and  a  miner's  suit  of 
canvas.  His  external  appearance  was  that  of  a  miner,  but  his  bearing 
was  that  of  a  literary  gentleman.  He  paid  the  closest  attention  to 
the  sermon  from  beginning  to  end,  thereby  adding  to  the  preacher's 
interest  and  curiosity.  The  latter  became  intensely  interested  in 
his  new  hearer ;  and,  at  the  close  of  the  preaching  service,  he  was 
delighted  to  find  that  the  stranger  remained  to  join  the  Sabbath 
school.  "  Now,"  said  the  minister  to  himself,  "  I  will  find  out  who 


440  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

he  is  and  where  he  came  from."  He  thought  he  must  be  a  literary 
gentleman. 

The  school  was  all  embraced  in  one  class,  taught  by  the  pastor ; 
and,  in  the  lesson  of  that  day,  there  arose  a  discussion  upon  the 
change  of  the  Jewish  to  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Several  different 
opinions  were  expressed,  when  the  pastor,  thinking  that  his  favorable 
moment  had  arrived,  addressed  the  stranger  :  — 

"  Friend,  we  are  glad  to  see  you,  and  would  be  most  happy 
to  hear  from  you.  Have  you  any  thoughts  to  express  upon  this 
subject  ?" 

The  pastor  had  given  his  interpretation  of  a  certain  passage  of 
Scripture,  and  he  was  somewhat  taken  aback  by  the  response  of  his 
new  pupil. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  your  interpretation  of  the  passage  is  sup- 
ported by  the  original  Greek." 

"  Do  you  understand  the  Greek  language  ?  "  inquired  the  pastor. 

The  stranger  thrust  his  hand  down  into  the  big  pocket  of  his 
miner's  suit,  pulled  out  a  Greek  Testament,  and  proceeded  to  read 
the  passage  in  Greek,  and  then  translated  it,  with  such  comments  as 
appeared  to  him  pertinent. 

After  the  school  was  dismissed,  the  pastor  had  an  interview  with 
the  stranger,  and  found  that  he  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  but 
was  then  a  prospector  in  the  mountains  six  miles  distant. 

At  the  present  time,  it  is  not  necessary  for  ignorance  and  inexpe- 
rience to  try  their  "luck"  in  hunting  mines;  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  has  produced  a  supply  of  men  who  understand  the  business, 
—  geologists,  mineralogists,  learned  professors,  practical  explorers, 
who  repudiate  "  luck  and  chance  "  in  this  business,  as  really  as  the 
stock-raiser  or  manufacturer  do  in  theirs.  A  "School  of  Mines"  at 
Golden,  Col.,  educates  young  men,  or  older  men,  for  every  part 
of  this  important  service.  A  prospector  must  know  how  to  pro- 
spect, as  the  chemist  must  know  how  to  analyze,  or  the  mechanic 
how  to  turn  out  his  handiwork. 

There  is  but  one  sentiment  among  the  initiated  respecting  the 
value  and  necessity  of  knowledge,  observation,  experience,  and  tact, 
to  the  prospector.  Alexander  Del  Mar,  M.E.,  of  San  Francisco, 
wrote,  a  few  years  since,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Mining  does  not  consist  of  a  knowledge  of  geology,  nor  fossilism, 
nor  petrology,  nor  chemistry,  nor  metallurgy,  nor  microscopy,  nor 
geodesy,  nor  surveying,  nor  mechanics,  nor  hydraulics,  nor  of  how 
best  to  handle  a  rocker,  a  torn,  a  pick,  a  sledge,  or  a  drill.  It  con- 


MARVELS  OF  MINfNG.  441 

sists  of  all  these  things  and  many  more  combined.  As  such,  it  is 
not  fully  taught  in  the  mining  schools,  whether  of  Frieberg,  Paris, 
Madrid,  or  any  other.  The  graduation  certificate  of  these  mining 
schools  are,  therefore,  of  little  value  in  determining  the  ability  of  a 
mining  engineer.  Accuracy  of  observation  and  truthfulness  of  re- 
port are  among  the  most  important  characteristics  of  an  engineer, 
because  many  mining  operations  are  impossible  without  co-operation 
and  capital,  and  these  cannot  be  secured  by  men  who  are  not  accu- 
rate and  reliable.  Yet  it  is  evident  that  these  qualities  cannot  be 
acquired  in  school. 

"  Second  :  Mining  is  a  secret  art.  This  arises  from  the  tremen- 
dous rewards  of  successful  mining.  There  are  men  in  this  city  who, 
but  a  few  years  ago,  were  poor  and  hard-working,  yet  who  are  now 
reputed  to  be  worth  from  fifteen  to  forty  million  dollars  each.  Min- 
ing is  not  an  unknown  art ;  it  is  merely  a  secret  one.  There  are 
plenty  of  men  who  can  correctly  answer  most  of  the  questions  sug- 
gested in  the  above  extracts,  but  who  will  not  answer  them,  because 
it  pays  much  better  to  keep  them  secret.  Hence  the  answers  do  not 
find  their  way  into  books,  and  consequently  are  not  easily  accessible 
to  the  editors  of  newspapers.  There  are  men  so  familiar  with  the 
mineralogical  'indications'  in  their  particular  district  of  country  that 
a  'twist'  in  the  'grain  '  of  the  'country  rock,'  or  the  peculiar  color  of 
a  spar  seam  will  cause  them  to  go  on  or  stop  mining,  or  to  change  the 
direction  of  their  explorations.  Each  country  has  its  own  peculiar 
geology,  and  this  is  so  vast,  so  complex,  and  the  knowledge  of  it  so 
imperfect,  that  it  is  difficult  to  learn  and  useless  to  transplant.  The 
mine  capitalists  of  1824-25  learned  to  their  cost,  that  British  steam- 
mechanics  and  Mexican  horse-mechanics  were  two  different  arts,  and 
American  mine  capitalists  may  learn  a  similar  lesson  at  the  present 
time." 

Prof.  J.  Alden  Smith,  late  State  geologist  of  Colorado,  said :  — 
"  The  business  of  mining  should  be  conducted  on  the  same  gen- 
eral basis  as  ordinary  mercantile  and  manufacturing  pursuits ;  men  of 
experience  only  should  be  allowed  to  manage  mining  properties,  and 
not  schoolmasters.  It  requires  three  times  the  experience,  and  four 
times  the  preparatory  study,  to  successfully  manage  a  mine,  that  it 
does  to  run  a  wholesale  grocery  or  a  woollen  factory.  There  are 
dozens  of  mines  in  Colorado  which  have  paid  dividends  ranging  all 
the  way  from  thirty  to  sixty  per  cent  annually,  for  from  five  to  twelve 
years  consecutively,  of  which  the  general  public  has  heard  absolutely 
nothing.  An  instance  came  under  my  notice  not  long  ago.  where 


442 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


seven  thousand  seven  hundred  dollars  ($7,700)  was  invested  in  a 
property  by  a  man  of  practical  education,  and  the  investment  was 
returned  inside  of  eighty-five  days.  Another  practical  manager  re- 
turned to  the  owners  of  a  certain  mine,  of  whose  existence  the  public 
is  ignorant,  a  net  profit  of  twenty-two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
($22,500)  out  of  a  gross  product  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
($25,000)." 

We  would  not  convey  the  idea  that  there  is  never  anything  like 


GOLD-DIGGER   AND    DEER. 

what  men  call  "  stumbling  upon  a  mine."  We  have  already  said  that 
gold  was  first  discovered  in  California  and  Colorado  by  men  who 
were  not  searching  for  it.  This,  however,  is  not  the  rule,  but  the 
exception.  We  might  fill  a  long  chapter  with  these  exceptions ;  but 
the  narrative  would  be  brief  in  comparison  with  the  volumes  in 
which  are  recorded  the  achievements  of  patient  research  and  scien- 
tific mining. 

It  is  related  of  an  early  adventurer,  who  drifted  with  the  crowd  to 
Leadville  in  1878,  that,  after  a  vain  endeavor  to  discover  gold  by  his 
wits,  poverty  and  despair  got  the  better  of  him.  He  awoke  one 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


443 


morning  without  food  or  money,  and  canvassing  his  situation,  he 
resolved  to  go  out  and  shoot  some  sort  of  game  to  supply  present 
and  pressing  necessities.  He  shot  a  deer ;  and  the  animal,  in  his 
dying  agonies,  kicked  up  a  parcel  of  dirt  that  disclosed  the  presence 
of  gold.  The  poverty-stricken  prospector  opened  his  eyes  when  this 
proof  of  a  mine  was  kicked  into  his  face,  made  sure  of  his  "  claim," 
and  opened  one  of  the  most  profitable  mines  ever  worked  in  that 
locality.  He  was  more  indebted  for  his  good  fortune  to  the  heels  of 
the  deer  than  he  was  to  the  "  School  of  Mines." 

In  the  days  of  gold-excitement  in  California,  three  prospectors 
jointly  engaged  in  mine-hunting  with  scarcely  any  success  for  months. 
Good  news  coming  from  another  locality,  they  packed  up  their  tools 


MINE    LOCOMOTIVE. 

and  started.  On  the  way,  they  found  the  dead  body  of  a  man  whose 
errand  to  that  part  of  the  country  was  like  theirs,  without  doubt. 

"  Poor  fellow  ! "  said  one  of  the  men,  "  he  has  passed  in  his 
checks !  " 

"  Let  us  give  him  a  decent  burial,"  proposed  another  of  the  men  ; 
"  some  wife  or  mother  will  be  glad,  if  she  ever  knows  it." 

"  All  right,"  responded  the  third  prospector  ;  "it  will  be  a  humane 
deed,  to  say  the  least." 

So  the  three  set  to  work  with  a  will  to  dig  the  dead  stranger's 
grave.  Three  feet  from  the  surface  they  found  evidence  of  gold ; 
and  the  result  was  that  they  opened  a  gold  mine  there  instead  of  a 
grave,  and  buried  the  stranger  in  another  place.  To  that  date  their 
wits  and  industry  did  less  for  them  than  their  humanity. 

There  was  a  claim  in  Leadville  called  the  "  Dead  Man  Claim." 
The  mine  and  the  name  came  about  in  this  way.  A  miner  died  when 


444 


MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 


there  were  several  feet  of  snow  lying  on  the  ground.  His  comrades- 
wished  to  give  him  a  respectable  burial,  so  they  hired  another  to  dig 
his  grave  for  twenty  dollars.  In  the  meantime,  they  laid  the  dead 
man  away  in  a  snowbank  for  safe  keeping.  When  the  grave-digger 
had  been  absent  three  days  and  no  report  from  him  had  been 
received,  a  search  was  instituted,  and  he  was  found  digging  a  mine 
instead  of  a  grave.  In  excavating  the  grave,  he  struck  a  rich  mine, 
and  in  his  great  ex- 
citement forgot  the 
corpse  and  his  bar- 
gain, intent  only 
upon  making  his 
fortune.  He  had 
been  an  unsuccess- 
ful prospector, 
growing  poorer 
and  poorer  from 
month  to  month, 
but  now  he  "  struck 
it  rich  "  when  he 
was  thinking  only 
of  getting  twenty 
dollars  to  keep  up 
the  connection  be- 
tween his  soul  and 
body. 

Into  the  little 
town  of  Rosita, 
Col.,  there  came  an 
old  miner,  in  1877 
or  1878,  who  had 
been  an  unsuccess- 
ful prospector  in 
Australia.  He  re- 
turned from  that  far-off  country  without  a  dollar  to  his  name,  and 
hied  away  to  the  gold-fields  of  Colorado.  For  some  months  he  ap- 
plied himself  industriously  to  prospecting,  but  without  success.  He 
was  so  poor  and  "  unlucky  "  that  he  became  depressed  and  melan- 
choly. But  one  day  he  seated  himself  upon  a  stone,  and  proceeded 
aimlessly  to  strike  another  stone  at  his  feet  with  his  pick.  He  was 
altogether  forlorn  and  hopeless ;  and  he  was  revolving  his  bitter 


FINDING  GOLD  BY  ACCIDENT. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


445 


experience  in  his  thoughts.  Unexpectedly  he  chipped  off  a  piece  of 
the  rock  he  was  so  thoughtlessly  pounding.  The  chip  startled  him ; 
for  his  eye  caught  the  evidence  of  a  rich  deposit  of  gold.  He  caught 
up  the  broken  piece  with  delight,  examined  it  closely  to  be  sure  of 
the  truth,  and  sprang  to  his  feet.  It  was  gold  !  gold !  a  rich  find, 
too  !  —  the  first  in  all  his  prospecting  and  wanderings  to  gladden  his 
heart. 


J 


PLACER    MINING. 


He  hurried  into  the  town,  and  went  directly  to  an  acquaintance, 
to  whom  he  showed  his  specimen,  and  offered  to  take  him  in  as 
partner  for  twenty-five  dollars.  His  friend  declined,  whereupon  he 
hastened  to  the  assay  office,  where  a  load  of  wood  had  just  been 
dropped.  He  agreed  to  saw  the  wood  to  pay  for  assaying  his  sam- 
ples. The  result  more  than  satisfied  his  wildest  expectation.  He 
took  out  of  that  mine  ($450,000)  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  then  sold  it  for  ($300,000)  three  hundred  thousand,  and 
($1,000,000)  one  million  in  stocks,  —  the  best  return  an  aimless  blow 


446  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

ever  received.  Doubtless  the  fortunate  man  called  his  experience 
"luck." 

"  Honest  John,"  as  he  was  called,  a  noted  Idaho  character,  was 
out  hunting,  when  he  wounded  a  deer.  He  gave  chase  after  the 
wounded  creature  through  wood  and  glen,  and  finally  stumbled  over 
what  proved  to  be  a  rich  lode.  The  appearance  of  the  earth  attracted 
his  attention,  whereupon  he  instituted  a  careful  examination,  which 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a  rich  mine.  He  named  it  Elkhorn  ;  and 
within  six  weeks  he  was  taking  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  day  out  of 
it.  The  mine  yielded  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  1882, 
three  hundred  thousand  in  1883,  and  has  continued  to  enrich  its 
owners  to  this  day. 

Placer  mining  first  enlists  the  attention  of  gold-seekers,  because 
it  is  easiest,  most  accessible,  and  makes  prompt  returns.  It  consists 
in  washing  the  surface  dirt.  We  saw  that  the  thousands  who 
invaded  California  in  1848-49  engaged  at  once  in  this  sort  of  mining. 
The  cut  on  p.  445  represents  them  at  work  with  pan  and  shovel, 
the  former  about  the  form  and  size  of  an  ordinary  tin  pan.  When 
the  process  of  washing  the  gold  from  the  dirt  is  remunerative,  the 
miner  says  "it pans  out  well."  His  pan  furnishes  the  figure. 

As  compared  with  lode  mining,  there  is  -no  outlay  to  be  made  in 
the  outset,  and  no  risk  to  run.  At  the  close  of  each  day  the  miner 
knows  just  the  amount  he  has  earned.  He  may  be  entirely  ignorant 
of  practical  and  scientific  mining,  but  he  knows  enough  to  separate 
gold  from  the  surface  dirt.  He  may  be  as  poor  as  Job's  long-eared 
companion,  but  his  muscle  and  perseverance  give  him  .as  good  a 
chance  as  his  more  well-to-do  co-worker  enjoys.  Poverty  stands 
abreast  with  competency  in  this  kind  of  work ;  or  poverty  may 
sift  dirt  as  fast,  and  perhaps  faster,  than  competency. 

We  have  seen,  also,  that  gold-seekers  in  Colorado,  in  1858-59, 
devoted  themselves  to  placer  mining  in  Boulder,  Gilpin,  Park,  Sum- 
mit, Lake,  and  other  counties.  Here  they  could  work  but  five  or 
six  months  of  the  year  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the  weather ; 
but  one  million  a  season  was  the  average  amount  of  gold  secured  for 
several  years.  Indeed,  California  Gulch  alone,  where  three  or  four 
months  of  labor  covered  the  working  season,  turned  out  one  million 
each  season  for  a  series  of  years. 

The  gold  gathered  by  placer  mining  has  been  washed  down  from 
the  mountains,  through  past  age's,  into  the  creeks,  rivers,  and  gulches. 
Much  of  it  works  through  the  loose  gravel  down  to  the  bed  of  rivers, 
where  miners  find  the  richest  deposits. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


447 


The  rocker,  sometimes  called  "cradle,"  is  about  as  primitive  as  the 
pan  in  placer  mining.  A  good  illustration  of  it  is  found  below, 
showing  also  the  method  of  working  it.  It  is  simply  a  box  about 
four  feet  long,  mounted  on  rockers  and  furnished  with  graded  sieves. 
The  gold  dirt  is  placed  in  the  hopper,  where  the  water  is  also  poured, 
and,  by  the  use  of  amalgamated  plates  and  blankets,  the  gold  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  dirt  as  it  is  washed  down  from  the  hopper  into  the 
box.  It  is  still  in  use  in  certain  localities,  as  on  river-bars,  where 
other  methods  are  not  practicable. 


HE  ROCKER. 


Of  course  there  is  a  limit  to  placer  mining.  The  gold  is  exhausted 
in  time  ;  and  miners  who  are  not  prepared  to  engage  in  lode  mining 
pack  their  traps  and  start  for  other  placers  This  includes  the  class 
who  have  not  the  enterprise  or  capital  to  engage  in  lode  mining  ;  and 
it  is  a  verv  lanre  class,  too.  When  the  crowd  of  placer  miners  left 

j  c>  A 

Boulder,  Gilpin,  and  other  counties  of  Colorado  just  named,  in  1863, 
for  other  placers  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  even  as  far  away  as  Mon- 
tana and  Idaho,  some  of  the  richest  lodes  were  being  worked  in  the 
counties  which  they  forsook.  The  Bobtail,  Gregory,  Winnebago, 
Burroughs,  Kansas,  and  a  score  of  others,  were  yielding  their  thou- 


448 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


GULCH    MINING. 

sands  of  dollars  every  month  ;  but  the  mass  of  stampeders  had  no 
love  for  this  more  difficult  method  of  acquiring  fortunes.  Perhaps 
many  of  them  really  thought  that  the  shortest  cut  to  great  wealth 
was  through  placer  mining  ;  and  so  placers  they  must  have.  The 
word  "  placer  "  is  from  the  Spanish,  and  means  "content,"  "  satisfac- 
tion "  ;  and  this  class  appeared  to  be  "content  "  with  placers  only. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


449 


In  1862  placer  mining  began  in  Montana,  and  in  1867  Alder  Gulch 
alone,  thirteen  miles  long,  had  yielded  sixty  millions.  From  1862  to 
the  present  time  the  placers  of  Montana  have  turned  out  one  hundred 
and  fifty  millions. 

We  have  said  that  gold  is  washed  down  from  the  mountains  into 
gulches  and  ravines,  where  the  hydraulic  method  of  securing  it  is 
brought  into  requisition.  By  this  method  water  is  carried  long  dis- 
tances, often  by  ditches  and  flumes,  to  wash  gold  from  the  dirt  on  a 
much  larger  scale.  The  cut  (p.  448)  shows  the  flume  and  sluices,  the 
latter  being  nothing  more  than  boxes  into  which  the  gold  dirt  is 

carried  by  the 
swift-running 
water,  where  the 
presence  of  mer- 
cury in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  boxes 
attracts  and  sep- 
arates the  gold 
from  the  dirt. 
Once  or  twice  a 
day,  as  the  cir- 
cumstances may 
be,  the  water  is 
shut  off,  the  box- 
es opened,  and 
the  gold  secured. 
Sometimes  a  pow- 
erful stream  of 
water  is  poured 
into  the  sides  of 

the  gulch,  to  wash  out  the  earth  into  the  flume  in  a  large  way. 
Hydraulic  mining  caused  such  immense  damage  in  California  by 
filling  up  rivers  and  covering  farming  lands  with  debris,  that  it  has 
been  suppressed  by  legislation,  thereby  largely  diminishing  the  gold- 
product,  and  causing  depression  in  business.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
suppression  of  this  mode  of  mining  threw  tiuenty  tJionsand  men  out 
of  employment.  Many  persons  believe  that  the  damage  by  leg- 
islation will  be  greater  than  the  damage  by  the  accumulation  of 
debris. 

Above  is  an  illustration  of  hydraulic  mining  in  Idaho,  where  a 
mammoth  nugget  was  discovered  a  few  years  ago,  four  inches  long, 


GULCH   MINING,   IDAHO. 


450 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


two  and  a  half  wide,  and  one  inch  thick,  weighing  nineteen  ounces, 
twelve  pennyweights,  and  eighteen  grains. 

In  hydraulic  mining,  flumes  are  often  carried  across  deep  valleys, 
after  the  manner  of  railroad  and  highway  bridges,  as  represented 
below. 

LODE   MINING. 

• 

Exhaustible  placer  mining  was  followed  by  inexhaustible  lode 
mining,  which  embraces  silver  mining.  Here  it  is  necessary  to  sink 


FLUME. 

a  shaft  down  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  by  drilling  and  blasting. 
This  is  accomplished  by  hard  work  and  great  expense. 

The  next  cut  represents  the  perpendicular  shaft  into  the  earth,  with 
two  horizontal  levels,  or  drifts.  A  windlass  is  erected  at  the  opening 
of  the  shaft  for  the  purpose  of  lowering  and  raising  the  bucket. 
Miners  descend  by  the  bucket  or  ladder.  When  a  mine  is  excavated 
beyond  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  feet,  the  windlass  is  no  longer 
serviceable.  Man-power  is  not  equal  to  the  task,  and  horse-power, 
with  pulley  or  drum  of  timber,  is  called  into  requisition.  At  a  greater 
depth,  say  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  steam-power  is 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


451 


required.     When  a  large  quantity  of  water  hinders  work  in  the  mine, 
powerful  pumps  become  indispensable. 

A  mine  may  have  several  drifts,  according  to  its  depth,  'and  the 
drifts  may  be  on  both  sides  of  the  shaft.  The  cut  on  the  opposite 
page  shows  two  drifts  on  the  right.  Often  the  drifts  extend  a  long 
distance,  and  railway  tracks  are  laid,  on  which  the  ore  is  conveyed 


LODE    MINING. 


to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  whence  it  is  lifted  to  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  The  Chrysolite  Mine  of  Colorado  has  from  seven  to 
eight  thousand  feet  of  drift. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  mine  is  heavily  timbered  through- 
out. This  is  necessary  in  both  shaft  and  drift  to  prevent  caving, 
and  assure  safety  to  the  miner  who  is  obliged  to  adopt  a  subterra- 
nean life.  It  is  a  dark  abode,  so  that  the  best  artificial  lighting  is 


452 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


required.  The  miner  must  wear  a  light  on  his  cap,  in  addition  to 
the  reflectors  which  illuminate  his  underground  workshop. 

The  depth  of  mines  varies  from  fifty  to  twenty-five  hundred  feet. 
Many  of  them  are  one  thousand  feet  deep.  Several  in  Colorado  are 
over  thirteen  hundred  feet  in  depth  ;  and  there  is  one  in  Nevada 
sunk  twenty-five  hundred  feet  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  What  a 
place  for  a  human  being  to  live  and  labor  in  ! 

On  the  next  page,  veins  of  gold  or  silver  are  represented,  with  shaft 
sunk  so  as  to  cut  them,  or  to  reach  them  by  its  drifts.  The  veins  can  be 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD. 

worked  above  and  beneath,  as  well  as  at  the  sides,  by  the  men  in  the 
drifts.  A  vein  may  extend  to  such  a  length  as  to  make  it  practicable 
to  sink  several  shafts. 

When  a  profitable  mine  is  fairly  in  operation,  a  building  is  erected 
over  the  entrance,  provided  with  all  the  room  and  appliances  neces- 
sary to  carry  on  the  work  in  summer  and  winter.  For  the  change  of 
seasons  does  not  trouble  the  miner  at  work  a  thousand  feet  below 
the  earth's  surface,  nor  even  the  change  of  temperature.  Summer 
and  winter  are  about  the  same  to  him. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


453 


GOING    INTO   A   MINE. 

A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr.,  has  an  amusing  description  of  his  descent  into 
a  Colorado  mine,  in  his  instructive  book,  "  New  Colorado,"  and  we 
extract  it  for  the  entertainment  of  our  readers  at  this  point  :  — 

"  Entering  a  rough  wooden  building,  you  see  a  steam-engine  turn- 
ing an  immense  drum,  around  which  is  coiled  a  wire  rope.  On  a 
chair  sits,  with  each  hand  on  a  lever,  the  bright,  watchful  engineer, 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  drum,  now  nearly  covered  with  the  coil.  In 
another  minute,  click !  the  machinery  has  stopped,  and  out  of  an 


VEINS  OF  GOLD. 


opening  in  front,  like  Harlequin  in  a  Christmas  pantomime,  has  come 
a  grimy  figure,  who  stands  there  smiling  at  you,  with  a^  lamp  fixed  on 
the  front  of  his  cap,  and  his  feet  on  the  rim  of  a  great  iron  bucket. 
He  steps  off,  the  bucket  is  emptied  of  the  load  —  not  of  rich  ore,  but 
of  very  dirty  water,  which  it  has  brought  up  —  and  there  is  an  air  of 
expectancy  among  the  workmen,  and  an  inquiring  smile  on  the  face 
of  Mr.  Thornton,  the  superintendent.  Something  is  clearly  expected  of 
you,  for  it  is  established  that  you  are  not  what  is  called  by  the  miners 
a  '  specimen  fiend,'  or  unmitigated  sample-collecting  nuisance,  and  it 
is  assumed  that  when  you  came  hither  to  investigate  you  '  meant 
business.'  You  take  the  hint  and  follow  Mr.  Thornton  to  a  room, 
where,  amidst  a  good  deal  of  joking,  you  put  on  some  clothes  —  and 


454 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


such  clothes !  If  you  have  one  spark  of  personal  vanity,  '  all  hope 
abandon,  ye  who  enter  here,'  for  even  your  kind  guide  has  to  turn 
away  to  hide  a  smile  when  he  sees  you  in  overalls  which  will  not 
meet  in  front,  and  are  precariously  tied  with  a  ragged  string ;  an 
ancient  flannel  shirt,  the  sleeves  of  which  hang  in  tatters  around  your 
wristbands,  and  a  cap  which  might  have  come  over  in  the  Mayflower* 


GOING   INTO  A  MINE. 


and  has  a  smoky  lamp  hooked  into  its  fast-decomposing  visor.  As 
you  approach  the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  the  engineer  genially  remarks 
that  there  '  ain't  much  danger,'  and  when  the  bucket  has  come  up  and 
been  partially  emptied,  the  bystanders  repeatedly  advise  you  to  be 
careful  about  getting  in.  As  you  climb  perilously  over  the  side,  you 
think  of  the  Frenchman  who,  starting  in  the  fox  hunt,  cried  out, 
'Take  noteece,  mes  amis,  zat  I  leafe  everyzing  to  my  vife ! '  And 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  455 

when  you  are  crouched  down  so  that  Mr.  Thornton  can  stand  on  the 
rim  above,  you  do  not  think  at  all,  but  know  that  you  are  what  M. 
Mantalini  called  'a  dern'd  moist,  unpleasant  body.'  Mr.  Thornton 
makes  a  grim  remark  about  it  being  as  well  to  have  some  matches, 
in  case  the  lamps  go  out,  gives  the  word,  and  down  you  go.  Under- 
stand that  there  is  just  about  room  for  the  bucket  in  the  shaft,  that 
the  latter  is  slightly  inclined,  and  that  you  catch,  and  jar,  and  shake 
in  a  nerve-trying  way  ;  and  understand  further,  that  a  person  should 
carefully  study  his*  temperament  and  possible  disabilities  before  he 
takes  a  contract  to  go  into  a  deep  shaft. 

"  At  a  certain  depth  —  it  may  be  five  hundred  or  one  thousand  feet 
(in  some  Nevada  mines  it  is  two  thousand  five  hundred) — you  stop 
at  side-drifts  or  cross-cuttings,  in  which  men  are  at  work ;  and  here 
you  see,  walled  in  by  rock,  the  fissure  vein.  Some  are  'stoping,'  or 
cutting  away  pieces  with  a  pick ;  others  holding  the  steel  wedges  ; 
and  others  striking  them  tremendous  blows  with  sledge  hammers. 
They  are,  by  the  way,  in  the  habit  of  accompanying  these  blows 
with  gutteral  sounds,  the  hearing  of  which  induced  a  special  corre- 
spondent of  the  gentler  sex  —  ignoring  the  fact  that  they  receive 
three  dollars  per  diem,  own  chronometer  watches,  and  have  fine  bank 
accounts,  and  silver-spoons  on  their  tables  —  to  write  a  soul-moving 
description  of  the  poor,  down-trodden  miner,  imprisoned  far  from  the 
light  of  the  blessed  day,  uttering  terrible  groans  as  he  toiled  his  life 
away  for  the  enrichment  of  the  bloated  and  pampered  capitalist ! 
Other  men,  again,  are  drilling,  loading,  and  tamping  for  the  '  shots ' 
which  are  to  tear  the  rock  in  pieces  :  and  you  will  probably  remem- 
ber a  pressing  engagement  to  '  meet  a  man  '  at  some  distance  from 
the  mine,  and  induce  Mr.  Thornton  to  ring  for  that  moist  car,  and 
take  you  up  before  they  light  the  match.  Emerging  from  the  shaft, 
clad  once  more  in  the  garb  of  civilization,  and  thinking  what  a  set  of 
fine  fellows  you  have  seen,  you  will  agree  with  the  sagacious  soul 
who  said  to  the  colonel  and  the  commodore,  '  Yes,  there's  a  good 
many  of  them  big-hearted  fellows  in  this  country.  You  see,  them 
small-souled  cusses  takes  too  much  irrigation^  to  bring  them  out. 
They've  got  to  git  up  an'  git ! ' ' 

In  addition  to  the  entertainment  of  the  foregoing  description,  it  is 
very  instructive,  and  introduces  the  reader  to  some  of  the  methods 
of  mine  life. 

The  next  cut  illustrates  what  Mr.   Hayes  refers  to  by  the  word 


456 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


"stoping."  The  glossary  of  mining  terms  defines  it  to  be  "the  act 
of  breaking  down  a  stope  [see  definition  of  stopc\,  and  excavating  it 
with  a  pick." 


WEIGHTS,  VALUES,  AND    MEASUREMENTS. 

•In  his  valuable  history  of  Colorado,  Mr.  Fossett  introduces  many 
important  facts  concerning  weights,  values,  and  measurements  con- 
nected with  mining,  which  the  reader  will  find  of  -practical  use.  We 
copy  them  here,  as  we  feel  that  it  is  almost  indispensable  for  the 
reader  to  know  them,  if  he  would  possess  a  comprehensive  view  of 
the  subject  in  hand  :  — 


STORING. 


"A  ton  of  gold  or  silver  contains  20,166.66  ounces. 

"  A  ton  of  gold  is  worth  $602,875. 

"A  ton  of  silver,  at  the  standard  rate  of  $1.29,29,  would  be  worth 
$37,709.57;  but  at  the  present  price  of  silver,  $1.10  per  ounce,  it 
would  be  worth  only  $32,083.32. 

"The  standard  of  gold  and  silver  for  United  States  money  is  900 
parts  of  pure  metal  and  100  parts  of  alloy  in  1,000  parts  of  coin; 
that  is,  a  dollar  is  nine-tenths  pure  metal. 

"Standard  gold  is  worth  $18.60,465  per  ounce  United  States  gold 
coin,  2if  carats  fine. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  457 

"Standard  silver,  $1.1636^  per  ounce.  The  term  'fineness'  ex- 
presses the  quantity  or  proportion  of  pure  metal  in  1,000  parts. 

"The  value  of  an  ounce  of  gold,  pure,  is  $20.67,183,  or  approxi- 
mately $20.67;  23.22  grains  of  pure  gold  equals  $i.  The  standard 
gold  dollar  is  25.8  grains  troy,  and  the  silver  dollar  412.5,  and  the 
trade-dollar  420.9  grains. 

"Pure  silver  has  371.25  grains  to  the  dollar;  hence,  the  value  of 
one  ounce  should  be  $1.29,29+,  instead  of  the  varying  bullion  price 
$1.10  or  $1.15.  Had  the  former  been  the  ruling  price,  as  in  by-gone 
years,  Colorado's  silver  product  of  1878  would  have  had  a  valua- 
tion one  million  greater  than  it  was. 

"The  British  standard  of  coinage  is  u  parts  of  gold  to  one  of 
alloy,  and  of  silver,  37  parts  of  silver  to  30  alloy.  Quotations  of  the 
price  of  silver  on  the  British  market  is  made  on  that  basis,  viz.  :  of 
tV^r  nne !  while  American  transactions  are  made  in  the  pure  metal. 
This  accounts  for  the  lower  rates  per  ounce  of  the  former. 

"  One  pound  '  troy  '  weight  equals  f  f  f  of  a  pound  avoirdupois  ; 
7,000  troy  grains  equal  one  pound  avoirdupois;  437.5  troy  grains 
equal  an  ounce  avoirdupois  ;  175  troy  pounds  equal  144  pounds  avoir- 
dupois ;  175  troy  ounces  equal  192  ounces  avoirdupois;  one  avoir- 
dupois pound  equals  1.215,278  pounds  troy. 

"  One  troy  pound  equals  22.8156  cubic  inches  of  water. 

"  One  cubic  foot  equals  7.4805  gallons. 

"One  metre  equals  39.370,797  inches,  English  measurement. 

"One  decametre  equals  32.80899  feet,  English  measurement. 

"  One  hectometre  equals  328.0899  feet,  English  measurement. 

"  One  kilometre  equals  3,280.899  feet,  English  measurement. 

"  It  is  estimated  that  the  gold  coin,  bars,  and  bullion  in  circula- 
tion in  the  world  are  worth  $3,500,000,000;  equal  to  the  debt  of 
Great  Britain.  If  this  was  in  one  mass,  it  would  make  a  twenty-five 
foot  cube.  One  cubic  foot  of  gold  weighs  1,200  pounds,  and  is  worth 
not  far  from  $300,000.  Silver  is  about  one-half  as  heavy  as  gold,  — 
a  cubic  foot  of  silver  weighing  about  600  pounds,  worth  about 
$10,000.  There  is  about  the  same  value  of  silver  in  the  world  as 
gold;  viz.,  $3,500,000,000." 

We  add,  also,  that  a  carat  is  a  weight  used  by  goldsmiths  and 
jewellers.  Originally  the  Kaura  bean  was  used  for  this  purpose, 
from  which  the  name  carat  was  derived.  A  carat  is  a  weight  of  four 
grains,  when  used  in  weighing  diamonds  ;  and  when  used  in  refer- 
ence to  the  fineness  of  gold,  pure  gold  is  supposed  to  weigh  twenty- 
four  carats  of  twelve  grains  each,  and  this  pure  gold  is  called  fine. 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Thus,  if  gold  be  said  to  be  twenty-two  carats  fine,  it  is  meant  that 
twenty-two  twenty-fourths  are  pure  gold,  and  two  twenty-fourths 
alloy.  Coin  is  usually  twenty  carats  fine  ;  while  gold  used  for  orna- 
ments and  jewelry  varies  from  eighteen  carats  down  as  low  as  twelve 
and  even  ten  carats.  The  alloy  is  usually  silver.  Gold  in  its  pure 
state  is  too  soft  for  ordinary  use. 

E.  B.  Elliott,  the  government  actuary,  has  computed  the  weight  of 
$1,000,000  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  as  follows  :  — 


,     * 


ROCK-BORING  WINCH. 

The  standard  gold  dollar  of  the  United  States  contains  of  gold  of 
nine-tenths  fineness,  25.8  grains  ;  and  the  standard  silver  dollar  con- 
tains of  silver  of  nine-tenths  fineness,  425.5  grains.  In  round  num- 
bers, the  following  table  represents  the  weight  of  $1,000,000  in  the 
coins  named  :  — 

Description  of  Coin.  Tons. 

Standard  gold  coin , 1% 

Standard  silver  coin 26^ 

Subsidiary  silver  coin 25 

.Minor  coin,  five-cent  nickel 100 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


459 


REDUCTION   OF   ORES. 

When  ores  are  brought  to  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  metals 
which  they  contain  are  to  be  extracted  therefrom.  In  this  difficult 
art  great  progress  has  been  made  since  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California.  At  first  only  from  fifteen  to  forty  per  cent  of  gold  and 
silver  was  actually  saved.  The  expense  of  extracting  them  was  often 
too  great  to  leave  any  margin  for  profits.  The  trouble  was  chiefly  in 
not  knowing  how.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  capitalists 
in  the  mining  business  have  been  learning  how,  so  that  now  a  much 
larger  per  cent  of  metals  is  saved ;  and  ores  that  formerly  did 
not  pay  for  working,  now  yield  a  handsome  income.  Remarkable 

improvement  in  machinery  for 
reducing  ores  has  been  made 
in  this  period,  illustrating  the 
familiar  maxim  that  "necessity 
is  the  mother  of  invention." 

First,  there  is  the  stamp-mill 
process,  which  has  been  used 
more  or  less  from  the  start  for 
the  low-grade  gold  ores.  The 


cut  well  represents  the  machine, 
and  Mr.  Fossett's l  description 
of  it,  which  we  quote,  will  give 
the  reader  a  correct  idea  of  it. 

"The  stamp-mill  process  is 
very  imperfect,  but  has  been 
vastly  improved  during  the  past 
fifteen  years,  as  far  as  opera- 
tions in  Colorado  are  concerned.  At  one  time  only  from  fifteen 
to  forty  per  cent  of  the  gold  contained  in  the  ore  was  saved,  while 
from  fifty  to  seventy  per  cent,  and  occasionally  more,  are  saved  at 
the  present  time.  One  mill  claims  a  saving  of  over  eighty-five  per 
cent,  including  returns  of  buddled  tailings.  Blankets  and  pans  help 
to  increase  the  returns. 

"  The  mill  proper  consists  of  a  solid  framework,  heavy  iron 
stamps  and  attachments,  propelled  by  steam  or  water  power  by  means 
of  a  horizontal  shaft  and  connections.  Mortars,  inclined  tables,  and 
other  accessories  go  to  make  up  the  contents  of  the  establishment. 


TEN-STAMP  QUARTZ  MILL. 


1  Colorado,  pp.  226,  227. 


460  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  framework  is  upright,  as  are  also  the  iron  stamps,  which  are 
made  to  rise  and  fall  by  means  of  cams,  or  arms,  extending  from  the 
revolving  shaft  above.  The  stamps  rise  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
inches,  and  drop  on  the  ore  in  iron  mortars  or  troughs  beneath,  from 
twenty-seven  to  thirty-five  times  per  minute.  These  mortars  are 
several  feet  long,  and  from  twelve  to  fourteen  inches  high,  and  nine, 
or  ten  deep,  and  rest  on  solid  wooden  foundations.  They  are  placed 
between  the  upright  wooden  posts  of  the  frame ;  the  stamps,  usually 
five  in  number,  that  rise  and  fall  thereon,  form  what  is  termed  a 
battery.  The  mortars  are  the  receptacles  for  the  ore,  which  is 
shovelled  or  fed  into  them  as  fast  as  it  can  be  advantageously  crushed 
by  the  stamps,  at  the  same  time  that  a  constant  stream  of  water  flows 
in  the  same  direction.  Some  mills  have  but  a  single  battery  of  five 
stamps  ;  others  have  ten  or  twenty,  and  there  are  some  that  have 
fifty  and  seventy-five. 

"  On  the  side  of  the  mortars  where  the  ore  feeding  is  done,  the 
framework  is  boarded  up  some  distance,  and  on  the  other  side  are 
sheet-iron  screens,  through  which  the  pulverized  ore  and  water  is 
forced  on  to  the  sloping  copper-plated  inclines  or  tables  below. 
Quicksilver  is  fed  into  the  batteries  and  on  to  the  tables  when  the 
mill  man  deems  it  necessary.  This  retains  most  of  the  gold  on  the 
tables,  while  the  pulp  or  slimes  from  the  batteries  are  being  carried 
onward  by  the  water  to  the  huddling  tanks  or  stream  beyond.  The 
stamps  are  stopped,  the  water  turned  off,  and  the  mortars  and  the 
plates  of  the  tables  are  cleaned  once  a  day,  or  once  in  several  days, 
and  the  amalgam,  or  gold  and  quicksilver  combination,  is  taken  to  the 
retort-room.  Here  it  is  skimmed  and  cleaned  and  pressed  in  a  cloth, 
so  as  to  get  rid  of  as  much  of  the  quicksilver  as  possible;  the 
remainder  is  retorted,  and  the  crude  bullion  sold  at  the  banks  at  from 
fourteen  to  eighteen  dollars  per  ounce,  or  shipped  in  other  ways. 
Gold  from  different  mines  varies  in  fineness  and  value,  the  quantity 
of  silver  accompanying  it  having  much  to  do  with  this.  The  average 
fineness  of  Gilpin  County  bullion  or  retort  gold  is  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  parts  pure  gold,  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  parts  pure 
silver,  and  fifteen  parts  copper.  The  bullion  obtained  is  from  one- 
fourth  to  one-half  of  the  amalgam,  but  rarely  the  latter.  The  quick- 
silver, after  being  condensed,  is  saved  for  future  use. 

"  After  the  pulverized  ore  leaves  the  batteries  it  is  usually  washed 
over  two  sets  of  inclined  tables,  the  lower  ones  being  covered  with 
blankets.  Some  mills  use  pans,  modelled  after  the  principle  of  an 
arrastra.  The  pulp  or  slimes,  on  leaving  the  mill  proper,  are  gen- 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


461 


erally  worked  over  or  concentrated  by  washing  or  buddling,  when  the 
concentrates  are  sold  to  the  smelters.  This  often  adds  a  dollar  or 
two  per  ton  to  the  total  receipts  from  the  ore.  Formerly  no  effort 
was  made  to  save  anything  beyond  the  tables.  About  one  ton  of 
the^se  tailings  can  be  saved  and  sold  to  every  ten  tons  of  ore  crushed. 
"  The  stamps  used  in  these  mills  weigh  from  five  hundred  to  seven 
hundred  pounds,  are  generally  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  and  consist  of 
a  stem,  head,  shoe,  and  a  collar,  by  means  of  which  the  cam  raises 


SMELTING  WORKS  AT  ARGO. 

them.  The  stem  is  made  of  wrought  iron,  and  is  from  two  to  three 
inches  in  diameter,  while  the  shoes  attached  to  the  lower  part  of  the 
stem,  and  which  come  in  contact  with  the  ore,  are  thicker,  and  are 
made  of  steel  or  hardened  iron.  The  stamps  crush  the  ore  to  a  pulp 
or  powder,  and  much  of  the  gold  contained  therein  falls  to  the  bottom 
of  the  mortars,  and  is  taken  up  by  the  quicksilver  placed  there. 
Other  portions  of  the  gold  are  caught  on  the  tables,  blankets,  and  in 
the  pans." 

Many  machines  for  crushing  ores   have  been  in  use,  but  a  few 


462 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


only  have  proved  effective.  "  Blake's  Jaw  Crusher  "  stands  at  the  head 
of  the  list  for  thorough  and  extensive  work.  "Dodge's  Crusher," 
and  Allen's,  also,  rank  high.  Many  an  aspirant  for  the  honor  of 
bringing  out  the  best  machine  for  crushing  has  retired  from  the  field 
at  heavy  pecuniary  loss  and  heavier  disappointment. 


SMELTING. 

The  richest  ores  are  sent  to  the  smelters,  which  have  become 
numerous  throughout  the  New  West.  Many  and  great  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  smelting  ores  within  twenty  years.  The 


GOLD  AND  SILVER. 


first  successful  smelting  establishment  was  erected  by  the  "  Boston 
and  Colorado  Smelting  Company,"  at  Blackhawk,  in  1864,  and  was 
removed  to  Argo,  two  miles  from  Denver,  in  1878.  Hon.  N.  P.  Hill 
is  the  general  manager,  under  whose  efficient  direction  the  enter- 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


463 


prise  has  been  eminently  successful.  The  sketch  (p.  461)  is  from  a 
photograph  of  the  works. 

The  buildings  occupy  a  lot  of  eight  acres,  all  of  which  is  enclosed 
by  a  high  stone  wall.  Many  cottages  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
families  of  workmen  have  been  erected  within  the  enclosure.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  are  employed  in  the  works.  The  first  build- 
ing reached,  after  passing  through  the  gate, 
is  five  hundred  feet  long  and  one  hundred 
wide,  used  for  crushing  and  baking  ores. 
It  has  four  crushers  and  twenty-four  ovens. 
In  the  next  building  the  ore  is  smelted  by 
eight  furnaces,  capable  of  smelting  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  tons  daily.  From 
this  building  the  smelted  ore  is  conveyed  to 
the  next  one,  where  the  crushing  and  baking 
processes  are  repeated,  before  the  product 
is  sent  to  the  tub  and  refining  rooms. 

The  capital  of  this  company  is  $1,500,000, 
and  about  half  of  a  million  in  bullion  is 
turned  out  monthly.  More  than  one  million 
dollars  is  the  value  of  ores  which  the  com- 
pany constantly  carries.  Railway  tracks 
are  laid  to  the  works  from  the  Colorado 
Central,  over  which  the  immense  freight  is 

hauled.  The  Argo  and  Grant  Smelters,  of  Denver,  together  em- 
ploy from  four  to  five  hundred  men,  and  the  annual  aggregate  of 
their  bullion  product  amounts  to  twelve  million  dollars. 

The  process  of  extracting  and  refining  gold  and  silver  results  in 
producing  the  pure  metal.  The  above  cut  shows  a  ton  of  pure  silver 
in  cakes  or  bricks  of  an  average  weight.  When  melted  into  solid 
bars,  instead  of  bricks,  the  average  weight  of  the  bars  is  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  ounces,  valued  at  nearly  two  thousand  dollars. 
Bars  or  bricks  of  gold  range  in  value  from  fifteen  thousand  dollars  to 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 


A  TON  OF  PURE   SILVER. 


LEADVILLE. 

The  most  famous  mining  town  in  the  world  must  be  a  marvel ; 
and  that  town  is  Leadville.  In  the  autumn  of  1877  there  were  about 
three  hundred  souls  within  the  township,  including,  perhaps,  ten  or 
twelve  families.  One  year  later  there  were  six  thousand  inhabitants, 


464  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

occupying  about  two  thousand  dwellings,  such  as  they  were.  Rich 
gold  mines  were  discovered,  and  the  rush  began.  Before  the  close 
of  1879,  it  was  claimed  that  the  population  of  Leadville  reached  thirty 
thousand.  The  value  of  precious  metals  mined  in  1878  was  three 
and  one-half  millions;  and  in  1879,  nearly  twelve  millions.  Mr. 
Kent  claimed,  for  1879,  that  tne  above  product  was  over  thirty-one 
thousand  dollars  for  each  day  of  the  year,  over  thirteen  hundred  dol- 
lars for  each  hour  of  the  day,  about  twenty-two  dollars  for  each 
minute,  and  thirty-six  cents  for  each  second,  day  and  night,  for  the 
whole  year.  More  than  jive  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  sent  by 
miners,  in  money-orders,  through  the  Leadville  post-office,  to  friends, 
in  1879.  These  money-orders  were  so  many  messengers,  sent  all 
over  the  land  to  proclaim  that  Leadville  was  the  richest  mining 
camp  in  the  world.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  tide  of  emigration 
setting  thitherward  increased  in  volume  from  month  to  month. 

A  large  criminal  class  came  with  the  crowd,  but  soon  were  forced 
to  conform  to  municipal  law,  or  move  on  to  other  fields.  In  less 
than  two  years  from  the  time  of  opening  the  rich  mines,  the  town 
could  boast  a  strong  city  government,  with  ample  means  to  maintain 
itself ;  well-organized  police  and  fire  departments  ;  water-works  to 
supply  the  city  with  water,  and  gas-works  to  supply  it  with  light ; 
one  bank  with  deposits  amounting  to  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
and  another  six  hundred  thousand,  with  exchange  for  1879  amount- 
ing to  ten  million  dollars ;  three  daily  newspapers  ;  a  free-school 
system  established,  and  five  high-school  buildings  erected,  with  a 
competent  and  experienced  educator  for  superintendent  of  schools ; 
and  four  Protestant  churches,  with  efficient  pastors,  together  with  a 
Catholic  cathedral  nearly  completed,  at  an  expense  of  thirty  thousand 
dollars.  All  this  accomplished  in  less  than  two  years  ! 

The  Leadville  of  to-day  is  a  well-ordered  city  of  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants,  industrious,  enterprising,  and  thrifty.  The  "floating 
population "  has  floated  away,  leaving  the  intelligent  and  reliable 
class  to  control  and  build  up  a  town  of  grand  possibilities. 

The  city  is  located  between  two  lofty  ranges  of  mountains, 
more  than  ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  therefore 
above  the  clouds,  and  hence  called  "the  city  of  the  clouds."  Its 
streets  are  wide,  and  the  chief  ones  are  lined  with  as  extensive  and 
well-stocked  warehouses  as  are  found  in  Eastern  cities.  Indeed,  few 
towns  of  its  size  in  New  England  can  boast  of  as  large  a  music 
store  as  we  saw  on  its  principal  street..  Its  public  buildings —  espe- 
cially its  opera-house  — would  be  regarded  with  pride  in  the  best 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


465 


towns  of  the  East.  Its  newest  and  largest  hotel  is  represented 
below.  It  bears  the  name  of  Leadville's  most  successful  capitalist 
and  generous  benefactor,  —  Hon.  Horace  A.  W.  Tabor,  of  whom  the 
editor  of  the  Herald-Democrat  says  :  "He  may  justly  be  styled  the 
father  of  Leadville.  Having  rocked  its  cradle  in  infancy,  and  sustained 
it  generously  through  childhood,he  is  entitled  to  its  allegiance  and  rev- 
erence in  its  maturity,  both  of  which  he  unquestionably  possesses." 

The  Grand  Tabor  is  a  large,  costly  hotel,  built  of  brick,  with  stone 
trimmings,  and  furnished  as  elegantly  as  the  best  hotels  east  of  the 
Mississippi. 


TABOR  GRAND. 


A  single  fact  illustrates  the  magnitude,  cheapness,  and  reliability 
of  Leadville's  market.  A  new  citizen  desired  to  purchase  a  fine  gold 
watch,  and  he  wrote  a  friend  in  New  York  City  to  purchase  it  for 
him  at  Tiffany's.  The  friend  called  at  that  famous  store,  and  made 
known  his  errand.  The  manager  replied  :  "  We  will  sell  you  a  watch 
for  your  Leadville  friend  ;  but  he  can  purchase  just  as  good  a  watch 
of  Joslin  &  Park,  Leadville,  as  we  can  sell  you,  and  get  it  just  as 
cheap,  and  save  heavy  express  charges."  This  fact  was  communicated 
to  the  citizen  of  Leadville,  and  the  watch  was  bought  in  that  city. 

Leadville  has  been  supposed  by  the  Eastern  people  to  be  exceed- 
ingly mean,  morally, — next  door  to  the  pit,  possibly;  but  we  assure 


466  MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

the  reader  that  it  is  really  a  Christian  city  to-day,  because  its  eight 
or  ten  active  churches  give  tone  and  direction  to  public  thought  and 
sentiment.  Vice  is  no  more  prevalent  than  it  is  in  Eastern  cities,  and 
crime  does  not  make  so  black  a  record  as  it  does  in  numerous  Eastern 
towns  we  might  name.  In  the  autumn  of  1883,  the  writer  walked 
through  its  principal  thoroughfare  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  witnessed  the  same  order  and  quiet  to  which  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed at  home.  True,  the  doors  of  saloons  were  thrown  wide  open, 
and  they  were  thronged  with  miners  from  the  suburbs  ;  but  the  crowd 
was  orderly  and  quiet.  Just  before  our  visit  there,  a  member  of  the 
city  government  knocked  down  a  man  on  the  street,  with  whom  he 
had  an  altercation  ;  and  forthwith  he  was  arraigned  by  his  associates, 
who,  after  due  examination,  moved  to  expel  him  from  their  body,  and 
would  have  accomplished  their  purpose,  had  not  legal  counsel  decided 
that  only  the  people  who  elected  could  depose  him.  But  the  citizens 
accepted  the  will  for  the  deed  ;  and  we  assured  one  of  them  that  such 
an  honorable  regard  for  the  dignity  and  reputation  of  the  city  govern- 
ment was  not  possible  in  New  York  or  Boston. 

The  banking  business  of  this  remarkable  city  is  a  prominent  factor 
in  its  history.  "The  Carbonate  Bank  is  the  leading  financial  institu- 
tion, established,"  says  the  editor  of  the  Herald-Democrat,  "less  for 
the  purpose  of  pecuniary  gain  than  to  furnish  an  absolutely  safe  de- 
pository for  the  large  sums  of  money  which  it  was  necessary  to  keep 
at  easy  command,  for  use  by  mining  and  smelting  men  in  their  exten- 
sive financial  transactions." 

This  authority  furnishes  the  following  facts  taken  from  the  books 
of  the  institution  :  — 

"  The  amount  of  money  received  and  paid  to  depositors,  for  the 
year  1885,  was  over  tliirty-eiglit  millions  of  dollars  ($38,000,000). 

"The  average  deposits  carried  for  the  first  six  months  of  1885,  was 
three  hundred  ninety-three  thousand  four  dollars  ($393,004). 

"  The  average  amount  of  deposits  carried  for  the  second  six  months 
of  1885,  was  four  hundred  ninety-one  thousand  one  hundred  forty  dol- 
lars ($491,140). 

"  The  average  daily  cash  balance  carried  for  the  twelve  months  of 
1885,  was  two  hundred  fifty  tJiousand  one  hundred  sixty-three  dollars 
($250,163). 

"  The  average  per  cent  of  available  cash  to  deposits  for  the  year 
1885,  was  fifty-seven  per  cent  (.57). 

"The  number  of  depositors  at  the  present  time  is  ten  hundred  and 
fifty  (1050). 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


467 


"The  number  of  drafts  drawn  during  the  year  was  eleven  thousand 
three  hundred  thirty-six  (i  1,336). 

"  The  total  amount  of  the  drafts  drawn  was  five  million  nine  hun- 
dred seventeen  thousand  dollars  (5,917,000). 

"The  average  number  of  drafts  drawn  was  thirty-seven  (37)  for 
each  business  day  during  the  year." 


LOOKING  WEST  FROM  PRINTER   BOY  HILL. 

Leadville  schools  would  be  an  honor  to  any  city  of  New  England. 
In  February,  1878,  the  first  school  was  opened  in  a  rude  log  house, 
where  thirty  boys  and  girls  were  taught  by  Mrs.  A.  R.  Undergraff. 
In  eighteen  months  from  that  time,  there  were  twelve  public  schools 
and  thirteen  teachers.  One  year  later,  there  were  twenty-one  teachers 
and  two  thousand  pupils.  In  May,  1881,  an  elegant  school  building, 
built  of  brick  and  highly  ornamented  with  stone  trimmings,  was  com- 
pleted at  an  expense  of  sixty-two  thousand  dollars.  It  is  eighty-one 


468  UfARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST, 

feet  long  and  seventy-nine  wide,  two  stories  high  above  the  base- 
ment, the  latter  portion  being  devoted  to  play  rooms,  janitor's  room, 
and  office  of  the  superintendent  of  the  city  schools.  Each  story  of 
the  building  is  sixteen  feet  high,  the  whole  heated  by  four  furnaces 
in  the  cellar,  and  supplied  with  water  and  gas  pipes. 

The  erection  of  this  schoolhouse  was  followed  by  the  building  of 
another  at  a  cost  of  forty-five  thousand  dollars.  In  the  autumn  of 
'83,  we  found  two  additional  schoolhouses  (making  four  in  all), 
which  cost  forty  thousand  dollars  each.  In  five  and  one-half  years 
from  the  time  of  opening  the  first  school  in  the  log  cabin,  we  found, 
by  personal  observation,  a  complete  system  of  graded  schools,  includ- 
ing a  thoroughly  equipped  high  school,  with  nearly  two  thousand 
pupils  enrolled  in  four  elegant  buildings,  with  a  corps  of  experienced 
teachers,  whose  services  were  obtained  only  by  the  payment  of  large 
salaries.  To-day  the  schools  of  Leadville  lose  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  best  schools  of  the  land.  No  teacher  is  paid  less  than 
twenty  dollars  a  week  ;  and  the  best-paid  ones  receive  forty-two  dollars 
per  week.  Most  of  them  came  from  the  East,  where  they  had  already 
won  a  reputation  for  skilful  work  in  the  schoolroom. 

"  But  what  of  Leadville's  output  of  gold  and  silver  ? "  the  reader 
inquires.  It  is  this  marvellous  showing,  of  course,  which  especially 
interests  the  outside  world.  The  city's  great  mining  interest  de- 
mands great  facilities  for  business.  Hence,  everything  is  done  on  a 
magnificent  scale,  as  the  following  facts  prove  :  — 

"There  are  fourteen  miles  of  switches  in  the  Leadville  depot 
yards,  including  smelter  yards  and  sampling  works  tracks. 

"  Four  hundred  and  fifty  cars  are  handled  daily  in  the  yards  at 
Leadville,  six  consolidated  engines,  twenty-eight  switchmen,  and 
six  yard  conductors  are  required  to  perform  this  service,  owing  to 
the  heavy  grades,  the  maximum  grade  being  three  hundred  and  five 
feet  to  the  mile  and  thirty  degrees  curvature. 

"Twenty-five  cars  of  coal  is  the  daily  consumption  at  Leadville. 

"Ore  shipments  from  Red  Cliff,  Kokomo,  and  Robinson,  to  Lead- 
ville are  now  ten  cars  per  day  regularly. 

"The  Leadville  smelters  consume  daily  ten  cars  of  coke,  twenty- 
five  cars  of  charcoal,  twelve  cars  of  lime  rock,  two  cars  of  burnt  lime, 
five  cars  of  coal,  and  seven  cars  of  wood. 

"  The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  has  eight  passenger  trains  arriving 
and  departing  daily  from  Leadville. 

"  The  Denver,  South  Park,  and  Pacific  has  two  passenger  and  two 
accommodation  trains  to  and  from  Leadville  daily. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  469 

"Twenty-eight  freight  trains  arrive  and  depart  on  the  roads  at 
Leadville  daily." 

The  total  product  of  Leadville's  mines  in  1885  was  twelve  million 
three  hundred  fifty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  sixty-two  dollars 
($12,357,662).  The  product  for  seven  year§  is  as  follows  :  — 

1879 ^10,333,740 

1880 15,025,135 

1881 13,147,257 

1882 17,127,402 

1883 15,538,446 

1884 12,837,497 

1885 12,357,662 

Total ^96,367,139 

Almost  one  hundred  millions  in  seven  years  !  More  than  half  of 
Colorado's  entire  product  of  gold  and  silver  in  1885  yielded  by  the 
Leadville  district. 

The  year  1886  was  the  most  prosperous  year  for  the  city  since 
1880;  and,  at  this  time  of  writing,  mining  was  nevermore  profitable; 
old  mines  continuing  to  reward  their  owners  generously  and  new 
mines  opening  rich,  while  real  estate  is  booming,  and  everybody  is 
hopeful  "and  happy.  The  Herald-Democrat,  Jan.  I,  1887,  speaks  of 
the  increased  yield  of  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  iron,  in  1886,  as 
follows  :  — 

"The  production  of  the  Leadville  mines  during  the  past  year 
aggregates  $13,750,733.  The  amount  is  far  in  excess  of  the  most 
sanguine  estimates,  showing  a  gain  over  the  previous  year  of  $1,393,- 
071.  In  addition  to  this,  there  is  an  excess  of  ore  on  hand  at  the 
Leadville  smelters  of  about  25,000  tons,  compared  with  Dec.  31, 
1885,  possessing  a  value  of  over  $1,000,000,  which,  by  a  proper 
system  of  calculating  the  output  of  a  mining  district,  should  be  taken 
in  consideration,  and  which  would  swell  the  total  production  to 
$14,750,733.  It  has,  however,  been  the  custom,  in  compiling  the 
annual  production  of  Leadville,  to  include  only  such  items  as  repre- 
sent actual  transactions  and  shipments,  i.e.,  bullion  shipped  to  the 
refiners,  ore  sent  to  smelters  out  of  the  city  for  reduction,  and  gold 
and  silver  bars  sent  to  the  United  States  mints.  Thus  the  full  pro- 
duction of  Leadville  mines  is  not  always  accurately  arrived  at,  but 
depends  largely  on  the  amount  of  ore  on  hand  at  the  smelters,  as 
compared  with  the  previous  years.  At  present  the  Leadville  smelters 
carry  a  stock  of  about  50.000  tons  of  ore,  against  about  24,000  tons 
twelve  months  ago." 


470  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

The  same  authority  furnishes  the  following  tables :  — 


THE  GRAND  / 

LGGREGATE. 

LEAD    IN 
.,          TONS. 

SILVER  IN 
OUNCES. 

GOLD  IN 
OUNCES. 

VALUE. 

Bullion  Production  . 

2C  062 

A  c6o  01  1 

22  COA 

$7  CIS  1&A..1O 

Miscellaneous  Shipments    .  . 

22,526 

3,597»I32 

I4,O42 

6,135,585.00 

Grand  Total  

48,488 

8,166,145 

•36  546 

I  3  75O  "711  1O 

The  following  table  shows  the  production  of  each  metal  and  the 
tons  of  ore  shipped  from  Leadville  to  other  points  for  treatment 
since  1877  :  — 


METALS  CLASSIFIED. 

YEAR. 

TONS    OF   LEAD. 

OUNCES   OF   SILVER. 

OUNCES   OF   GOLD. 

TONS   OF  ORE. 

l877 

I7C 

376.827 

2.75O 

3.3OO 

1878    

2,724 

450,476 

8o7 

I  ?.84O 

l87Q    . 

17,650 

6,004,416 

I,IOO 

l8  54O 

1880    

33,551 

8,000,300 

1,688 

I2,4IO 

1881  

38,101 

7,  1  62.QOQ 

13,182 

I  5.630 

1882  

43.O24 

7,  27  3,240 

16.413 

9O,IO2 

1883  . 

36,870 

15,313,638 

25,160 

160,890 

1884  . 

35.206 

5,  72O,OO4 

27,617 

I  I2,8O5 

•  188s  . 

10,127 

5,I3O,O7Q 

12,312 

I32,OOI 

1886  .... 

25.062 

4.566  OI3 

22  5O4 

I  78  77C 

Total     

252,080 

5  1  ,000,900 

123,641 

600,862 

The  value  of  the  total  product  of  the  Leadville  district  since  1860 
is  as  follows  :  — 

1860  to  1879 $10,700,000 

1879  ....           10,333,740 

1880 15,025,135 

1881     .    ,                   13,147,257 

1882 17,127,402 

1883                                  15,538,446 

1884 12,837,497 

1885 12,357,662 

1886 13,750,833 

Total    ....  $120,817,972 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


471 


Horace  A.  W.  Tabor  was  a  merchant  in  Leadville,  selling  such 
goods  as  miners  required.  One  day  two  men  called  upon  him, — 
August  Rische  and  George  T.  Hook,  —  signifying  that  they  had 
abandoned  shoemaking  for  gold-hunting,  and  found  themselves  with- 
out money  to  prosecute  their  purpose.  After  considerable  discussion 
about  the  mining  business  and  future  prospects,  Tabor  agreed  to  fur- 


FRYER    HILL. 


nish  them  with  an  outfit,  which  would  amount  to  about  seventeen 
•dollars  each,  and  provide  them  food,  for  one-third  interest  in  their 
discoveries.  The  two  men  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  when  they 
had  sunk  a  shaft  twenty-six  feet,  mineral  was  found  so  rich  that  a 
wagon  load  of  ore  sold  for  two  hundred  dollars.  They  christened 
the  mine  Little  Pittsburg,  and  Tabor  became  a  rich  man.  Within 
four  or  five  months  they  extracted  three  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  ($375,000)  from  the  mine,  and  purchased  every 


472  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

available  mine  they  could  in  the  vicinity.  The  Minnemuck,  near  by, 
yielded  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  dollars  ($112,000)  in  forty- 
nine  days.  At  this  juncture,  the  owners  of  the  Little  Pittsburg, 
New  Discovery,  Dives,  and  Minnemuck  united  their  interests  under 
the  name  of  Little  Pittsburg  Consolidated  Company,  with  capital 
stock  of  twenty  millions  ($20,000,000).  From  this  time  the  yield  was 
enormous.  The  productions  of  the  mines  belonging  to  this  company 
amounted  to  the  almost  incredible  sum  of  two  million  six  hundred 
ninety-seven  thousand  five  hundred  thirty-four  dollars  and  ninety-one 
cents  ($2,697,534.91)  within  eighteen  months. 

In  the  eleven  months  immediately  preceding  April  I,  1880,  the 
ore  sold  amounted  to  one  million  five  hundred  ninety  thousand  two 
hundred  thirteen  dollars  and  eighty-one  cents  ($1,590,213.81).  The 
profits  were  one  million  two  hundred  ninety-one  thoiisand  five  hundred 
seventy-eight  dollars  and  forty-seven  cents  ($1,291,578.47). 

The  Chrysolite  mine  is  another  bonanza.  After  yielding  more 
than  half  a  million  dollars  within  four  or  five  months,  it  was  united 
with  several  other  valuable  mines  under  the  name  of  Chrysolite  Con- 
solidated Company,  with  capital  stock  of  ten  millions  ($10,000,000), 
swelling  the  amount  of  product,  in  a  few  months  more,  to  one  million 
five  hundred  ninety-four  thousand  three  hundred  sixty  dollars  and 
forty-seven  cents  ($  1 , 594, 360.47) . 

The  Little  Chief  was  located  by  four  poor,  hard-working  men, 
who  took  from  it  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($100,000)  within  three 
or  four  months,  and  then  sold  it  to  J.  V.  Farwell,  of  Chicago,  for 
three  hundred  thousand  ($300,000).  The  total  product  of  this  mine 
to  April  i,  1880,  was  two  million  four  hundred  seventy-three  thousand 
eight  hundred  fifty-seven  dollars  and  ninety-eight  cents  ($2,473,857.98). 
When  it  was  paying  monthly  dividends  of  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, it  was  sold  to  a  New  York  company  with  a  capital  stock  of  ten 
million  dollars  ($IO,OOO,OOO). 

The  Amie  is  situated  on  the  summit  of  Fryer  Hill.  It  was  dis- 
covered in  the  summer  of  1879,  and  soon  after  the  Amie  Consolida- 
ted Mining  Company  was  organized,  with  capital  stock  of  five  mil- 
lion ($5,000,000).  Within  six  months  the  yield  amounted  to  half 
a  million  dollars. 

The  Morning  Star  did  not  promise  well  at  first,  and  was  sold  to 
Governor  Routt.  The  energy  and  labor  which  he  put  into  its 
development  soon  converted  it  into  a  bonanza.  In  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  1879,  its  product  was  two  hundred  ninety  thoits and  four 
hundred  ninety-one  dollars  and  twenty-six  cents  ($290,491.26).  In 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


473 


474  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

January,  1880,  its  yield  was  $70,600  ;  in  February,  $70,000  ;  in  March, 
$75,000;  and  in  April  the  Morning  Star  Consolidated  Mining  Com- 
pany was  organized,  with  a  capital  stock  of  six  millions  ($6,000,000). 

The  Dunkin  opened  well  in  the  summer  of  1879,  an<^  m  two  or  three 
months  yielded  $35,000,  when  it  was  sold  to  ex-Governor  A.  H.  Rice 
and  Hon.  John  B.  Alley,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Hon.  James  G.  Elaine, 
of  Maine,  for  $300,000.  The  ore  bodies  of  this  mine  range  from  one 
to  twenty-seven  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  ore  yields  from  fifty-eight 
to  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  ounces  per  ton,  and  from  ten  to 
sixty  per  cent  of  lead. 

The  following  paragraph,  interjected  here  from  Fossett's  "Colo- 
rado," furnishes  important  information  respecting  the  ores  of  Lead- 
ville :  — 

"The  ores  of  Leadville  district  are  treated  by  smelting  without 
roasting,  nature  having  obviated  the  necessity  of  the  latter.  The 
same  method  has  long  been  in  use  in  Missouri,  Utah,  and  elsewhere. 
Ores  are  smelted  in  what  are  known  as  water-jacket  furnaces,  con- 
structed of  iron,  of  circular  or  square  shape,  six  feet  more  or  less  in 
diameter,  and  of  much  greater  height.  They  are  lined  internally 
with  fire  clay  and  rest  on  a  cement  and  clay  foundation.  The  ore  is 
shovelled  into  the  furnaces  along  with  the  necessary  proportions  of 
coke,  charcoal,  and  slag,  from  a  floor  over  that  where  the  bullion  is 
discharged,  the  furnaces  being  uprights  and  extending  upwards 
through  the  building,  with  outlets  for  fumes  and  smoke  above.  The 
proper  mixture  of  ores  and  fuel  are  important  points  to  success,  and 
the  more  refractory  the  ores  the  greater  the  care  needed  to  avoid 
chilling  the  furnace  and  other  troubles.  Weighing  the  ores  is  one 
means  of  determining  their  character,  as  the  per  cent  of  lead  can 
thus  be  approximated.  The  molten  mass  separates  itself  in  the  fur- 
nace according  to  its  specific  gravity,  the  lead  with  its  silver  con- 
tents settling  into  a  lead  well  at  the  bottom  and  one  side,  from  which 
it  is  dipped  into  iron  moulds,  where  it  cools  into  bars  of  about  one 
hundred  pounds  weight.  Furnaces  are  run  night  and  day  from  one 
month's  end  to  another ;  to  allow  them  to  cool  down  would  entail 
a  heavy  expense  in  drilling  out  the  mass  of  iron  and  slag  that 
would  have  to  be  removed,  and  in  fact  would  stop  business  com- 
pletely." 

But  the  most  famous  of  all  the  mines  of  Leadville  is  the  Robert 
E.  Lee.  It  is  claimed  that  no  mine  in  the  world 'ever  yielded  silver 
ores  of  so  high  a  grade.  It  embraces  about  five  acres  of  ground. 
The  whole  property  was  originally  purchased  for  $7000.  In  August, 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  47 S 

1879,  work  was  pushed,  and  at  the  depth  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feei  the  richest  silver  ore  in  the  world  was  discovered.  Other  silver 
mines  had  surprised  the  most  credulous  ;  but  the  unsurpassed  rich- 
ness of  this  mine  was  well-nigh  incredible  to  many.  The  first  three 
months  four  hundred  ninety-five  thousand  dollars  ($495,000)  were 
taken  out.  In  October,  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
($125,000)  were  taken  out  in  ten  days,  the  ore  yielding  520  ounces 
of  silver  per  ton.  In  January,  1880,  the  yield  reached  the  extraor- 
dinary amount  of  three  hundred  one  thousand  four  hundred  ninety- 
four  dollars  and  seventy-nine  cents  ($301,494.79).  On  the  I3th  day  of 
January,  1880,  there  were  taken  out  in  twenty-four  hours  $118,500, 
the  average  of  the  ore  being  $1200  a  ton.  Two  tons  yielded  23,678 
ounces  of  silver,  or  11,839  ounces  per  ton.  From  the  middle  of 
August,  1879,  to  Feb  i,  1880,  one  million  dollars  were  taken  from 
the  mine. 

Mr.  Kent  says :  "  On  the  3d  of  January,  six  out  of  the  seven 
owners  inspected  the  mine  and  gazed  in  wonderment  upon  the 
astounding  wealth  of  recent  developments.  Mr.  Sigafus,  one  of  the 
owners  and  resident  manager  of  the  mine,  offered  his  partners  his 
check  for  $10,000  to  be  permitted  to  work  for  one  hour  upon  a 
certain  spot  in  the  floor  of  one  level  where  the  rich  crevice  was 
exposed,  agreeing  to  work  with  a  pick  only,  and  within  lines  drawn 
about  a  four-foot  square.  Pennock  &  Roudebush  offered  $200,000 
for  the  privilege  of  working  twenty  men  upon  a  shift  for  thirty-six 
hours,  in  a  certain  other  named  locality,  and  own  the  ore  they  could 
raise  to  the  surface  in  that  space  of  time.  Both  these  offers  were 
declined." 

In  conversation  with  a  citizen  of  Leadville,  who  showed  us  valu- 
able attention,  we  remarked  :  — 

"  It  will  not  take  long  to  exhaust  many  of  these  mines,  I  sup- 
pose." 

"  Not  in  'your  day,  nor  mine,"  he  replied.  "  At  first,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  a  few  months  or  years  would  exhaust  even  the  best  of 
them,  but  recent  developments  assure  us  that  all  such  fears  are 
groundless." 

"  Then  new  mines  are  being  opened  almost  daily,"  we  suggested. 

"Yes,  and  we  have  only  just  begun  to  explore  the  earth  beneath 
us,"  he  continued.  "  Only  a  small  per  cent  of  our  mineral  lands  are 
worked  as  yet.  Science  and  experience  are  teaching  us  to  mine 
more  economically  and  profitably  every  year ;  and  we  shall  be  able  to 
accumulate  larger  profits  in  future  for  this  reason." 


4/6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  We  can  scarcely  expect  to  discover  another  Leadville,"  we  inter- 
jected. 

"Not  so  sure  about  that,"  he  answered.  "The  best  authorities 
say,  from  personal  examination,  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  full  of 
precious  metals.  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  another  Leadville 
were  discovered  any  day.  Prospectors  have  as  much  encouragement 
to  persevere  in  their  work  now  as  they  ever  had  ;  and,  indeed,  I 
think  they  have  more  reason  to  be  hopeful  and  expect  great  strikes 
than  they  had  ten  years  ago." 

"Well,  I  am  glad  to  hear  these  views,"  we  replied;  "for,  with 
Eastern  people  generally,  I  have  supposed  that  the  mining  business 
was  temporary  as  well  as  very  uncertain.  But  I  am  fast  getting 
enlightened.  I  have  seen  enough  already  to  satisfy  me  that  the 
poorest  part  of  our  territory  —  the  Rocky  Mountains  —  is  the  rich- 
est ;  and  that  the  time  is  not  distant  when  there  will  be  more 
millionnaires  in  the  New  West  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  country." 

"  I  am  not  sure  but  that  is  the  fact  already,"  my  friend  replied  ; 
"at  least,  including  those  who  get  their  riches  here,  but  live  else- 
where." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  go  down  into  a  mine  while  you  are  here," 
remarked  a  citizen  of  whom  we  were  making  inquiries.  "To  omit 
that  in  your  visit  to  this  mining  camp  would  be  the  play  of  Hamlet 
with  Hamlet  left  out." 

"Well,  yes,  I  should  like  to  explore  one  of  these  mines,"  we 
replied.  "  Are  visitors  admitted  at  any  time  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly.  Some  of  them  do  not  admit  visitors  at  all ;  others 
admit  them  at  specified  times.  I  think  the  Morning  Star  admits  them 
at  any  time,  and  that  is  one  of  the  best  mines  to  visit.  If  you  never 
went  down  through  a  shaft  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  it  will  be  a 
great  novelty  to  you." 

"  No  particular  danger,  I  suppose,"  we  responded  ;  "if  there  were, 
so  many  men  would  not  be  ready  to  go  down  to  their  work  daily." 

"  No,  no  great  danger ;  accidents  sometimes  happen,  and  they  do 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth,"  our  friend  replied.  "They  will  provide 
you  with  a  suit  of  clothes,  without  much  regard  to  style  or  personal 
appearance  ;  for  it  is  a  wet,  nasty  place  through  which  you  descend 
into  a  larger  and  dirtier  world  below.  You  will  scarcely  know  your- 
self when  you  are  arrayed  for  the  adventure  ;  you  will  look  extremely 
comical,  whether  you  feel  so  or  not." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  try  one  of  the  mines,"  we  added  ;  "  I  shall 
scarcely  feel  satisfied  to  return  to  the  East  without  seeing  the  inside 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


477 


of  a  mine.  To  come  two  thousand  miles  to  see  a  mine,  and  then  not 
see  one,  won't  pay." 

An  hour  afterwards  we  were  on  our  way  to  the  Morning  Star, 
when  we  met  a  good-looking  man  of  middle  age,  whom  we  accosted. 

"Are  you  a  citizen  of  Leadville,  sir?"  we  asked. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  I  am  one  of  the  pioneers  ;  came  here  with  the  rush 
five  years  ago,"  he  answered  very  cordially. 

"  I  propose  to  go  down  into  a  mine,  and  started  for  the  Morning 
Star,"  we  continued.  "Am  I  in  the  right  way  ? " 

"  Yes,  you  are  right ;  and  if  you  want  to  descend  into  a  mine,  you 
may  ;  but  I  don't,"  he  answered. 

"Then  you  are  not  connected  with  the  mining  business?" 


DRIFTING  AND   SHAFT-SINKING. 


"  No,  I  am  a  trader ;  and  I  have  never  been  down  into  a  mine 
since  I  have  lived  here,  and  never  expect  to." 

"  You  surprise  me,"  we  replied  ;  "  I  supposed  that  nearly  every- 
body in  Leadville  had  explored  one  or  more  mines." 

"  Quite  the  contrary  ;  some  of  us  think  too  much  of  our  lives  to 
make  the  adventure  until  we  are  compelled  to.  It  is  a  wet,  nasty, 
dangerous  feat,  and  I  rather  be  excused." 

"  How  is  that  ?  I  was  not  aware  that  there  was  any  particular 
peril  to  life  or  limb,"  we  added. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  not ;  but  my  taste  is  not  in  that  direction,"  said 
the  stranger  smilingly.  "To  ride  in  a  bucket  down  into  the  earth 
five  hundred  or  a  thousand  feet  has  no  attractions  for  me." 


478  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

By  this  time  the  adventure  had  little  attractions  for  us,  and  we 
thanked  the  outspoken  man  for  his  kindly  words,  and  passed  on.  But 
we  did  not  reach  the  Morning  Star.  We  concluded  to  leave  Hamlet 
out  of  the  play.  What  if  I  should  not  know  myself  when  arrayed  for 
the  descent  into  regions  below,  and,  being  among  strangers,  no  one 
there  to  introduce  me !  What  if  I  should  more  than  fill  the  bucket 
and  slop  over !  More  than  two  thousand  miles  from  home,  and  five 
hundred  feet  from  daylight  !  We  concluded  that  we  should  live  just 
as  long,  if  not  longer,  by  continuing  our  life  on  the  earth's  surface. 

PROFITS  OF   MINING. 

In  1 88 1  a  competent  party  made  the  following  estimate  of  the 
profits  of  mining  in  Colorado :  — 

"  i.    The  population  of  the  State  of  Colorado  is  195,234. 

"  2.  The  number  of  the  population  of  the  State  who  are  voters  is 
53.420. 

"  3.  It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  more  than  one-third  of 
the  men  in  the  State  are  engaged  in  mining  and  smelting.  This 
number  would  be  17,804. 

"  4.  Supposing  that  they  labor  during  an  average  of  two  hundred 
days  in  the  year  at  $2.00  per  day,  this  would  give  as  the  cost  of  the 
total  production  of  the  State  $7,121,600. 

"  5.  Add  to  this  interest  on  improvements  amounting  to  $20,000,- 
ooo  at  six  per  cent  —  equal  to  $1,200,000  —  and  we  find  the  total 
cost  to  be  $8,321,600. 

"  6.  But  the  total  production  of  the  precious  metals  in  Colorado 
during  the  year  1880  was  $24,000,000. 

"  7.  It  follows,  then,  that  after  paying  the  cost  of  labor  and  six 
per  cent  interest  on  the  money  invested  in  plans  for  mining  and  re- 
duction, there  was  a  profit  remaining  of  $15,678,400. 

"  8.  It  is  thus  shown  that  the  average  cost  of  producing  a  gold 
or  silver  dollar  in  Colorado  during  the  past  year  was  less  than  forty 
cents." 

Experience,  improvement  in  machinery,  and  other  facilities  have 
reduced  the  expense  of  mining,  so  that  good  authorities  claim  that  a 
dollar,  gold  or  silver,  costs  but  thirty-three  cents.  During  the  five 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  above  estimate  for  1880,  Colorado's 
outfit  of  gold,  silver,  lead  and  copper,  has  been  over  one  linndred  mil- 
lion dollars  ($100,000,000).  The  cost  of  gathering  this  harvest  has 
been  thirty-three  million  dollars  ($33,000,000),  leaving  a  profit  to  the 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


479 


State  of  sixty-seven  million  dollars  ($67,000, ooo).  As  the  output  of 
the  State  has  been  over  two  hundred  thirty-nine  million  dollars 
(^239,000,000),  since  the  rush  to  Pike's  Peak  in  1859, tne  profit,  allow- 
ing forty  cents  to  be  the  cost  of  a  dollar,  would  amount  to  more  than 
one  hundred  fifty-three  million  dollars  ($153,000,000).  Allowing  the 
cost  of  a  dollar  to  be  thirty-three  cents,  the  profits  would  reach 
nearly  one  hundred  sixty  million  dollars  ($160,000,000). 

The  mining  product  of  Colorado  from   1881   to   1887  was  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

1881  $22,203,508.72 

1882 26,750,898.00 

1883 26,376,562.00 

1884 20,250,000.00 

1885 22,500,000.00 

1886 26,794,688.00 

Total $144,876,656.72 

The  mining  product  of  Colorado  from   1876  to   1880  was  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

1876      $6,191,907.82 

1877      7,216,283.53 

1878      10,008,116.00 

1879      19,110,862.00 

1880      23,500,000.00 

Total $66,027,169.35 

From  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Colorado  to  1887,  the  output  has 
been  as  follows  :  — 


MINING  PRODUCT  OF  COLORADO  FROM  1859  TO  1887. 

YEAR. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

COPPER. 

LEAD. 

TOTAL. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Prior  to  1870 

27,213,081.00 

330,000.00 

40,000.00 

27,583,081.00 

1870   .... 

2,000,000.00 

650,000.00 

20,000.00 

2,680,000.00 

1871    .... 

2,000,000.00 

1,029,046.00 

30,000.00 

3,059,046.00 

1872   .... 

1,725,000.00 

2,015,000.00 

45,000.00 

5,000.00            3,790,000.00 

1873 

1,750,000.00 

2,185,000.00 

65,000.00' 

28,000.00            4,028,000.00 

1874   .... 

2,002,487.00 

3,096,023.00 

90,197.00 

73,676.00 

5,262,383.00 

1875 

2,161,475.00 

3,122,912.00 

90,000.00 

60,000.00 

5,434,387.02 

1876  .... 

2,726,315.82 

3,315,592.00 

70,000.00 

80,000.00  ;           6,191,907.82 

1877 

3,148,707.56 

3.726,379.33 

93,796.64 

247,400.00 

7,216,283.53 

1878   .... 

3,490,384.36 

6,341,807.81 

89,000.00 

636,924.73           10,558,116.90 

480 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MINING  PRODUCT  OF  COLORADO  FROM  1859  TO  1887  —  Continued. 

\  EAR. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

COPPER. 

LEAD. 

TOTAL. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

Dollars. 

I879     .... 

3,193,500.00 

15,385,000.00 

532,362.00 

19,110,862.00 

l880     .... 

3,206,500.00   1  8.6  ic  .000.00 

1,678,500.00 

23,500,000.00 

1881   .... 

22,203,508.72 

1882  .... 

26,750,898.00 

1883  .... 

26,376,562.00 

1884  .... 

20,250,000.00 

1885  .... 

22,5OO,OOO.OO 

1886  .... 

26,794,688.00 

Grand  Total 

265,874,656.72 

Table  showing  the  standing  of  fifteen  of  the  best  paying  mines 
in  Colorado,  Jan.  i,  1885  :  — 


NAME   OF   MINE. 

NO.    OF   SHARES. 

CAPITAL    STOCK. 

DIVIDENDS   PAID  TO 
DATE. 

Little  Pittsburg 

200  ooo 

520  ooo  ooo 

$i  050  ooo 

Bassick  Mining  Company  .... 
Chrysolite  

100,000 
200,000 

10,000,000 
10,000,000 

425,OOO 
I,65O,OOO 

Iron  Silver    

500,000 

10,000,000 

1,320,000 

Little  Chief      

200  ooo 

10,000,000 

760  ooo 

200,000 

5,000,000 

220,212 

La  Plata     

200,000 

2,OOO,OOO 

610,000 

Leadville  Consolidated  

400,000 

4,000,000 

700,000 

Evening  Star    

50,000 

500,000 

1  ,400,000 

Robinson  Consolidated  

200,000 

IO,OOO,OOO 

700,000 

Small  Hopes          

250,000 

5,OOO,OOO 

800,000 

Morning  Star  

100,000 

I,OOO,OOO 

74.0,000 

Moose  Mining  Company  

200,000 

2,OOO,OOO 

c,c,o,ooo 

Colorado  Consolidated  

65,000 

I,625,OOO 

21:1,871; 

Amie  Consolidated  

500,000 

5,000,000 

330,000 

THE   MARIPOSA   ESTATE. 

When  California  was  under  the  dominion  of  Mexico,  this  estate 
was  a  grant  by  the  Mexican  government  to  Juan  B.  Alvarado,  and  it 
was  purchased  by  Fremont  in  1847.  When,  a  year  later,  it  passed 


MARVELS  OF  MINING,  481 

into  the  possession  of  the  United  States,  Fremont  presented  his 
claim  to  the  United  States  land  commission,  and  it  was  confirmed  in 
February,  1856,  and  the  patent  issued.  Litigation  followed,  so  that 
it  was  not  until  1859  tnat  Fremont  came  into  full  possession  of  the 
large  property,  which  embraces  an  area  of  seventy  miles  square,  or 
44,380  acres.  It  extends  twelve  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  twelve 
and  one-half  miles  from  north  to  south.  It  includes  the  towns  of 
Mariposa,  Bridgeport,  Guadalupe,  Arkansas,  Flat,  Lower  Agua  Fria, 
Princeton,  Mount  Ophir,  and  Bear  Valley. 

As  soon  as  Fremont's  title  was  fully  established,  mining  began  on 
the  property  and  the  yield  of  gold  was  very  large.  The  monthly 
production  in  1860  was  $39,500;  in  1861,  $53,000;  in  1862,  notwith- 
standing the  great  flood  which  interrupted  mining  for  a  time,  $43,- 
500;  and  in  the  first  five  months  of  1863,  $77,000.  In  March,  1863, 
$94,000  were  taken  out;  in  April,  $92,000;  and  in  May,  $101,000. 
From  that  time  the  average  monthly  production  amounted  to  about 
$100,000,  with  the  promise  of  a  still  larger  yield.  Mining  engineers 
prophesied  the  most  marvellous  results.  One  of  them,  Dr.  J.  Adel- 
berg,  said,  in  a  report  :  — 

"  In  regard  to  the  value  of  the  veins,  I  can  say  no  more  than  that 
their  yield  in  precious  metal  is  limited  only  by  the  amount  of  work 
done  in  them  ;  but  I  recollect  Mr.  Fremont  once  commissioning  me 
to  make  an  estimate  as  to  their  endurance  in  the  limits  of  the  longi- 
tudinal extent  now  opened.  I  found  by  calculation  that  they  would 
yield  for  388  years  100  tons  daily,  without  the  requisition  of  pumps. 
I  mean  down  to  the  water  level." 

In  December,  1862,  Timothy  C.  Allen  made  a  report  upon  the 
property,  and  said  that  the  yield  might  be  increased  $100,000 
monthly.  Messrs.  Makely  &  Garnett  thought  the  property  might 
readily  be  worked  so  as  to  yield  $22o',ooo  monthly,  at  an  expense  of 
only  $50,000,  leaving  $170,000  the  net  monthly  income. 

These  reports  added  to  the  fame  of  the  Mariposa  mines,  and  just 
then  a  company  was  organized  in  New  York  City  to  work  them, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  ten  million  dollars  ($10,000,000).  The  com- 
pany was  formed  by  Fremont's  creditors,  who  took  a  mortgage  upon 
the  property  for  fifteen  million  dollars  ($15,000,000).  Through  mis- 
management, the  company  ran  into  debt  each  month,  notwithstand- 
ing the  large  production  of  the  mines.  At  that  time  the  property 
contained  more  than  a  thousand  auriferous  quartz  veins,  only  thirty 
of  them  worked,  and  these  only  partially.  The  five  months  im- 
mediately preceding  the  organization  of  the  aforesaid  company, 


482  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  property  yielded  three  hundred  eiglity-fivc  thousand  dollars 
($385,000). 

The  Princeton  was  one  of  the  mines  on  the  Fremont  grant,  and 
yielded  ninety  thousand  dollars  ($90,000)  a  month  for  a  time ;  and 
this  was  more  than  any  other  mine  in  California  ever  did.  In 
five  months  of  1860  (from  June  i  to  Nov.  i),  the  mine  yielded 
five  hundred  twenty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  thirty-three  dollars 
($527,633).  In  1862  and  1863  its  output  was  two  million  dollars 
($2,000,000).  In  1864  the  yield  amounted  to  two  hundred  forty-three 
thousand  seven  hundred  seven  dollars  ($243,707).  Within  seven 
or  eight  years  after  Fremont's  title  to  the  estate  was  established, 
more  than  four  million  dollars  ($4,000,000)  were  taken  out. 

The  Oso  mine  proved  very  rich,  and/<?«r  hundred  thousand  dollars 
($400,000)  were  taken  from  a  shaft  fifty  feet  deep  and  seven  feet 
long  on  the  vein. 

The  output  of  the  Princeton,  Mariposa,  Pine  Tree,  and  Josephine 
mines,  in  1860,  was  $474,000;  in  1861,  $642,000;  in  1862,  $522,000; 
in  1863,  $385,000,  with  $50,000  net  per  month;  in  1864,  $481,832, 
and  in  1865,  $230,000. 

The  Sonora  produced  $80,000  in  May,  1865  ;  in  June,  $84,000  ;  in 
July,  $95,000;  in  August,  $102,000;  in  September,  $91,000. 

The  total  production  of  the  Kincaid  Flat  to  1867  was  two  million 
dollars  ($2,000,000). 

Litigation  stopped  mining  on  the  Mariposa  estate,  and  left  the 
property  and  buildings  to  idleness  and  decay.  The  director  of  the 
mint  at  Washington  says,  in  his  last  report :  — 

"  The  affairs  of  the  company  became  embarrassed,  principally  by 
bad  management,  and  a  long  and  vexatious  litigation  ensued  which 
had  the  effect  of  closing  the  mines.  During  this  period  the  machinery 
rusted,  the  buildings  rotted,  the  shafts  filled,  and  the  tunnels  and 
drifts  caved,  towns  were  nearly  depopulated,  and  mining  camps 
abandoned. 

"This  litigation  having  reached  the  highest  courts,  both  State 
and  Federal,  and  been  disposed  of  finally  in  the  State  Supreme  Court, 
it  is  anticipated  that  operations  may  soon  be  resumed." 

It  is  claimed  that  Fremont  realized  from  this  Mariposa  property 
one  million  dollars. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  483 


THE   MOTHER   LODE. 

This  Lode,  much  of  which  is  covered  by  the  Fremont  grant,  is 
regarded  as  the  most  remarkable  metalliferous  vein  in  the  world. 
J.  Ross  Brown,  in  his  report  to  the  United  States  Government,  says 
of  it:  — 

"  Others  have  produced  and  are  producing  more,  but  no  other  has 
been  traced  so  far,  has  so  many  peculiar  features,  has  exercised  so 
much  influence  on  the  topography  of  the  country  about  it,  or  has 
been  worked  with  a  profit  in  so  many  places.  The  great  orgen- 
tiferous  lodes  of  Mexico  and  South  America,  the  most  productive 
of  precious  metal  of  all  known  in  history,  can  be  followed  not  more 
than  six  or  eight  miles ;  while  the  Californian  vein  is  distinctly  trace- 
able on  the  surface  from  Mariposa  to  the  town  of  Amador,  a  distance 
of  mflre  than  sixty  miles." 

"The  chief  peculiarities  of  the  mother  lode  are  its  great  length, 
its  great  thickness,  its  uniform  character,  the  near  proximity  of  large 
companion  veins,  of  which  at  least  one  is  usually  talcose,  and  the 
richness  of  the  talcose  veins.  In  reply  to  questions  about  the  chief 
distinguishing  feature  of  the  mother  lode,  the  miners  engaged  in 
working  various  mines  gave  very  different  answers.  One  said  it  was 
the  presence  of  a  belt  of  green  stone  on  the  eastern  side.  Another 
thought  it  was  a  black  putty  gouge.  A  third  spoke  first  of  the  occur- 
rence of  places  as  smooth  as  glass  on  the  walls.  Another  considered 
the  mother  lode  to  consist  of  two  branches,  one  the  luminated,  the 
other  the  bowlder  branch.  The  former  is  usually  on  the  west  side  ; 
the  latter  has  the  most  curves.  The  lode  is  richest  where  the  two 
meet.  Another  still  says  the  mother  lode  is  a  series  of  branches, 
sometimes  a  dozen  in  number,  covering  a  width  that  varies  from  five 
hundred  to  three  thousand  feet,  with  a  greenstone  porphyry  wall  on 
the  east,  and  dioritic  porphyry  wall  on  the  west." 

The  mint  director  at  Washington  says  of  it :  — 

"  It  is,  however,  within  the  limits  of  Amador  County  that  the 
mother  lode  makes  its  greatest  presentation  within  defined  wall 
structure  and  has  been  worked  to  the  greatest  profit.  The  Zeile, 
Keystone,  and  Plymouth  consolidated  companies  are  at  present  the 
most  productive,  the  last  named  having  yielded  $600,000  in  dividends 
during  the  year  1884  from  the  operations  of  their  eighty-stamp  mill. 
The  above-mentioned  mines  have  each  a  depth  of  one  thousand  feet 
or  more,  and  have  many  years  of  reserves  developed.  The  great  slate 


484  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

belt  is  found  north  of  the  Cosumnes  River,  in  El  Dorado  County,  but 
it  here  ceases  to  have  the  distinctive  appellation  of  'Mother  Lode.'" 

Sierra  has  developed  into  one  of  the  richest  quartz  regions  of  the 
State.  Notably  among  the  reported  quartz  discoveries  are  the  New 
River  deposits  of  Trinity  County,  which  have  been,  however,  but 
partially  developed.  Many  of  these  show  high  grade  ore,  and  are 
found  in  geological  formations  which  indicate  permanency.  The 
surrounding  conditions  are  excellent,  as  the  country  is  well  watered 
and  heavily  timbered. 

"  Prior  to  the  discoveries  in  San  Bernardino  County  three  years 
ago,  silver  mining  in  California  was  prosecuted  with  but  little  success  ; 
but  since  then  it  has  steadily  increased  in  importance.  During  the 
past  year  the  recorded  mines  have  kept  up  an  increased  supply  of 
silver  bullion,  while  many  new  properties  have  been  located. 

"  In  addition  to  the  great  wealth  of  gold  which  California  contin- 
ues to  pour  in  the  world's  coffers,  and  her  vast  reserves  of  silver  only 
now  beginning  to  yield  their  wealth,  other  useful  minerals  and  metals 
abound  in  a  variety  probably  unsurpassed  ;  and  as  many  of  them 
have  an  influence  on  the  production  and  refining  of  the  precious  metals, 
a  brief  mention  of  them  may  not  be  inappropriate." 

SOME   OF  THE   RICHEST   MINES  OF   CALIFORNIA. 

The  Sheep  Ranch  mine,  in  Calaveras  County,  was  discovered  in 
1865,  and  has  been  a  large-paying  mine  ever  since.  It  enriched  its 
locators,  who  finally  sold  it  for  a  fabulous  price  to  parties  who  have 
worked  it  on  a  larger  scale.  It  pays  $18,000  per  month. 

The  Standard  mine,  Mono  County,  has  been  a  great  producer. 
Although  the  year  1884  was  considered  dull,  the  mine  turned  out 
$267,777.16  in  gold,  and  $36,517.60  in  silver.  Total,  $304,294.76. 
This  mine  was  opened  in  1877,  since  which  time  its  production  has 
reached  the  enormous  sum  of  ten  million  dollars  ($10,000,000). 

The  Bodie  Free  Press,  under  date  of  Feb.  14,  1885,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing statement  of  the  grand  total  of  bullion  shipments  of  the 
Bodie  district  for  the  year  1 884  :  — 

Standard  Consolidated $304,294.76 

Bodie  Consolidated 617,310.18 

Syndicate 155,244.36 

New  Standard 17,714.76 

Bodie  Tunnel 2,075.90 

Wagner's  Tailings,  mill 17,600.00 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 

Virginia  Creek  Hydraulic  Company $21,300.00 

Scattering 8,630.00 

Bodie  ore 714.00 

Total $1,144,883.96 

The  Idaho  quartz  mine,  in  the  famous  Nevada  County,  yielded 
$364,599.85,  in  1883,  and  $561,895.49,  in  1884.  The  dividends  in  the 
latter  year  amounted  to  $271,250. 

The  principal  mine  of  the  Bloomfield  district,  Nevada  County, 
belongs  to  the  North  Bloomfield  Mining  Company,  and  they  report 
the  product  for  1884  $483,187.57. 

The  Eureka,  in  Plumas  County,  yields  $35,000  per  month,  on  the 
average,  and  promises  more  largely  to-day  than  ever. 

Three  years  ago  there  was  discovered  in  this  county  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  mines  of  California.  It  was  at  Eagle  Gulch,  and 
the  Greenville  Bulletin  said  of  it :  — 

"  The  recent  strike  at  Eagle  Gulch  is  something  so  great  that  a 
bare  statement  of  facts  would  read  like  the  wildest  romance.  One 
of  the  owners  of  the  mine  with  a  hammer  and  chisel  cut  out  one  solid 
lump  of  gold  worth  $2,700.  When  the  ledge  was  struck  in  the  lower 
tunnel,  a  man  who  was  at  work  there  was  sent  off  some  little  distance 
on  a  message.  During  his  absence  his  employer  took  out  $10,000. 
It  is  a  common  thing  to  find  from  $200  to  $300  in  a  single  pan  of 
dirt.  The  ledge  is  nearly  fifty  feet  wide,  all  of  which  is  good  milling 
ore.  The  extremely  rich  vein  is  about  three  feet  wide.  This  mine 
at  Eagle  Gulch  is  to-day  the  greatest  mine  in  the  State.  To  illus- 
trate how  fortunes  are  missed  and  made  in  mining,  it  may  be  stated 
that  a  short  time  ago  a  mine  operator  of  great  experience  went  and 
examined  the  property.  It  was  offered  to  him  for  $75,000,  and  he 
refused  it.  Not  long  afterward  that  much  could  be  taken  out  in  little 
more  than  a  week." 

The  Sierra  Buttes,  in  Sierra  County,  has  been  worked  fourteen 
years,  and  the  net  profits  have  reached  nearly  $100,000  annually. 

The  Plymouth  Consolidated,  of  Amador  County,  reports  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

Gold  bullion  produced  by  the  mines  of  this  company  for  1884 $1,033,518.29 

Operating  expenses 331,163.84 

Profit .     .     .          702,354.45 

Twelve  monthly  dividends,  of  550,000  each,  were  paid,  amounting  to       .     .          600,000.00 


Surplus  over  operating  expenses  and  dividends 102,354.45 

Add  surplus  on  hand  Jan.  i,  1884        44,559.96 

Total  surplus , $146,914.41 


486  MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

The  mines  at  Forest  Hill,  in  Placer  County,  yielded  from  1859  to 
1867,  as  follows:  The  Dardanelles,  $2,000,000 ;  the  Jenny  Lind, 
$1,100,000;  the  New  Jersey,  $850,000;  the  Independence,  $450,000; 
the  Deidesheimer,  $650,000  ;  five  other  mines,  $250,000  each  ;  and 
the  Alabama,  $150,000.  These  mines  are  worked  still,  some  of  them 
continuing  the  average  yield,  especially  the  Dardanelles. 

The  most  expensive  placer  mining  field  in  Nevada  County  was 
examined  by  Professor  Silliman  and  M.  Laur,  a  French  engineer  of 
mines,  and  both  agreed  as  to  the  vast  amount  of  wealth  deposited 
therein.  M.  Laur  said  that  if  $12,000,000  were  extracted  annually 
from  the  region,  it  would  take  five  hundred  and  twenty-four  years  to 
exhaust  it  within  a  single  mile.  At  the  base  of  Sugar  Loaf,  there 
were  taken  out  eight  million  dollars  ($8,000,000)  previous  to  1867. 

The  Grass  Valley  district,  in  Nevada  County,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred  as  yielding  largely  in  1883  and  1884,  was  even  more 
prolific  in  its  early  history.  Professor  Silliman  reported  in  March, 
1865,  that  the  gold  product  to  that  time  amounted  to  twenty-three 
million  dollars  ($23,000,000).  The  Eureka  paid  $50,000  per  month  for 
several  years,  and  is  still  a  paying  mine.  The  Gold  Hill  paid  $4,000,- 
ooo  in  fourteen  years  ;  and  the  Massachusetts  Hill,  $3,000,000  in  ten 
years. 

The  following  extract  from  the  last  report  of  the  director  of  the 
mint  at  Washington  shows  remarkable  production  :  — 

"The  shipment  of  gold  from  Bodie  district,  Mono  County,  amounted 
for  the  year  1884  to  over  a  million  dollars,  the  output  of  each  mine 
and  locality  in  and  about  that  district  being  given  below :  — 

Standard  Consolidated $305,274.03 

Bodie  Consolidated 617,939.49 

Syndicate 171,049.56 

New  Standard 17,714.76 

Bodie  Tunnel 2,075.90 

Wagner's  Tailings,  mill 17,600.00 

Virginia  Creek  Hydraulic  Company 21,300.00 

Scattering 8,630.00 

Bodie  Ore,  dump  pile 714.00 

Total $1,162,297.74 

"  The  total  value  of  bullion,  mostly  gold,  sent  from  Bodie  district 
up  to  the  present  time,  amounts  to  about  $17,000,000. 

"  Following  is  the  record  of  the  two  leading  mines  of  the  dis- 
trict :  — 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


487 


Total  output  of  the  Standard  Consolidated  to  Dec.  31,  1884. 

1877 #784,522.80 

1878 1,025,383.35 

1879 1,448,835.47 

1880 1,858,763.46 

1881       2,131,458.87 

1882 1,258,056.80 

1883 1,155,181.83 

1884 304,294.76 

Total $9,966,507.29 

Total  outptrt  of  Bodie  Consolidated  Mine  to  Dec.  31,  1884. 

1878 #1,042,236.80 

1879 764,067.12 

1880 429,817.80 

1881 366,105.14 

1882 484,890.48 

1883 246,820.10 

1884 617,310.18 

Total #3,951,247.62 

Table  showing  shares,  capital,  and  aggregate  dividends  of  ten 
most  valuable  mines  in  California,  Jan.  i,  1885,  with  time  last  divi- 
dend was  paid  :  — 


NAME  OF   MINE. 


DIVIDEND.          I  LAST  DIVIDEND  PAID. 


Black  Bear,  etc 

Bodie  Consolidated,  etc.   .  .  . 

Excelsior,  etc 

Idaho  Mining  Company    .  .  . 
Plymouth  Consolidated,  etc.  . 

Plumas  Eureka,  etc 

Sierra  Buttes,  etc 

Standard  Consolidated,  etc.  . 

North  Bloomfield,  etc 

New  York  Hill  Gold,  etc.  .  . 


100,000 

100,000 

100,000 

3,100 

100,000 

40,625 
22,500 
100,000 
45,000 
50,000 


#3,000,000 

10,000,000 

10,000,000 

310,000 

5,000,000 

406,200 

225,000 

10,000,000 

4,500,000 

5,000,000 


7,000 
1,607,500 

875,000 
3,620,800 

950,000 
1,741,223 

1,375.352 

4,450,000 

225,000 

215,000 


Dec.  28,  1884 

Dec.  5,  1884 

Oct.  6,  1880 

Dec.  15,  1884 

Dec.  5,  1884 

Oct.  10,  1884 

Oct.  10,  1884 

Mar.  12,  1884 

Nov.  5,  1880 

Aug.  10,  1882 


NUGGETS. 

The  term  "  nugget "  is  applied  to  a  mass  or  lump  of  gold  of  unu- 
sual size  and  weight.  Nuggets  are  found  more  or  less  in  all  gold- 
fields.  The  largest  ones  have  been  found  in  the  gold-fields  of  Vic- 


488 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


toria,  Australia.  The  so-called  Welcome  nugget,  weighing  over  182 
troy  pounds,  was  found  at  Bakery  Hill,  Ballarat,  in  1858.  Another  — 
the  "Blanche  Barkley  nugget"  —weighed  146  pounds,  and  only  six 
ounces  was  rock.  The  largest  California  nugget  was  found  at  Car- 
son Hill,  in  Calaveras  County,  and  weighed  108  pounds,  four  pounds  of 
it  being  quartz.  Speaking  of  "bars  and  nuggets,"  a  writer  says  :  — 

"The  first  piece  of  gold  found  in  California  was  worth  fifty  cents, 
and  the  second  $5.  Since  that  time  one  nugget  has  been  found 
worth  $43,000;  two,  $21,000;  one,  $10,000;  two,  $8,000;  one, 
$6,500;  four,  $5,000;  twelve,  worth  from  $3,000  to  $4,000,  and 
eighteen,  worth  from  $1,000  to  $2,000  have  been  found  and  recorded 
in  the  history  of  the  State.  In  addition  to  the  above,  numberless 
nuggets  worth  from  $100  to  $500  are  mentioned  in  the  annals  of 
California  gold  mining  during  the  last  thirty  years.  From  the  date 
of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  to  the  present  time,  the  yield 
has  been  about  $1,200,000,000,  therefore  it  is  very  easy  to  see  the 
small  figure  that  nuggets  cut  in  the  gold  yield.  Big  nuggets  are 
very  fine  things  to  show,  but  after  all  it  is  the  fine  gold  —  the  dust  — 
that  shows  up.  Although  ten  years  younger  than  California,  and  a 
producer  of  a  less  precious  metal,  Nevada  has  yielded  in  good  solid 
silver  bars  nearly  $300,000,000. 

The  director  of  the  mint  at  Washington  furnishes  the  following 
table,  showing  the  weight  and  value  of  the  principal  California  nug- 
gets, together  with  the  locality  where,  and  the  time  when  found:  — 


DATE. 

LOCALITY. 

WEIGHT. 

VALUE   AP- 
PROXIMATELY. 

Calaveras  County. 

Ounces. 

I854 

Carson  Hill,  near  Angel's  Camp  quartz  vein,  195  Ibs., 

4  Ibs   quartz  .                                           .           . 

2  1AO 

&A1  C  1A  OO 

1854 

Camp  Seco,  Stone  Cabin  Gulch.     Frank  Russworm     . 

93 

1,700.00 

Mokelumne  River.     Said  to  weigh  from  20  to  25  Ibs.  . 

... 

Placer  County. 

1864 

Michigan   Bluffs,  two  miles  distant  on  the  American 

River    

226 

4.  2O4  OO 

1876 

Polar   Star  Claim,  Dutch    Flat,   from  a  white  quartz 

bowlder          .               ... 

c  760  OO 

Sierra   County. 

i8« 

f->2 

JO  OOO  OO 

1851 

French  Ravine            .          

426 

8,OOO  OO 

MARVELS  OF  MINING, 


489 


DATE. 

LOCALITY. 

WEIGHT. 

VALUE    AP- 
PROXIMATELY. 

l85O 

Sierra  County  —  Continued. 
French  Ravine                            .          

Ounces. 
26"? 

$.A   So  -I  OO 

1860 

French  Ravine  

01 

'      T   7C7  OO 

1864 

Smith's  P'lat  

140 

2,605.00 

1869 

Little  Grizzly      .     .          

IO7 

2  OOO  OO 

Hope  Claim  

Q4 

i  770  oo 

1866 

Smith's  Flat  

14.6 

1860 

1854-1 
1862  / 

Monumental  Quartz,  Sierra  Buttes  (W.  A.  Farrish)     . 
Live  Yankee  Claim,  Forest  City,  twelve  nuggets,  from 
30  to  1  70  ounces     ... 

1,596 

I   3° 

I    170 

17,655.00 

1861 

Smith's  Flat  . 

80 

i  509  oo 

Oregon  Claim,   Forest  City,  nuggets,  from  30  to  100 
ounces  

{   3° 

v.     IOO 

Minnesota     

266 

5  ooo  oo 

1862 

1865 

Butte  County. 
Willard  Claim,  west  branch  of  the  Feather;   weight  54 
Ibs.  before  melting,  and  49  Ibs.  after  melting  .     .     . 
West  branch  Feather,  near  Magalia.     (Morrison)     . 
\Vest  branch  Feather,  near  Magalia 

1,607.00 
1,760  oo 

IS;; 

Shasta  County. 
Banghart  Mine,  Mad  Mule  Canon,  crystalline.  (Cooper) 

Nevada  County. 
Remington  Hill,  estimated  to  weigh      .... 

13 

1  86 

248.00 
3,i;oo.oo 

1867 

Remington  Hill      

128 

2,400.00 

1861; 

Lowell  Hill  

;8 

1,100.00 

Siskiyou  County. 
De  Groots,  Terry,  and  Klamath  rivers  

1  31 

2,437.00 

184.0 

El  Dorado  County. 
Illinois  Cafion,  near  Georgetown  .... 

I,  OOO  OO 

1850 

Georgia  Slide,  Hudson's  Gulch    .     .                         . 

I  OOO  OO 

1850 

Oregon  Cafion,  supposed  to  be  the  Fay  nugget  .     .     . 
Kelsey,  or  near  it;   date  not  stated    

1,250.00 
4  700  oo 

i8;7 

Manhattan  Creek,  near  Georgetown      

1857 
1865 

Garden  Valley.     Found  by  Samuel  Treeworgee  .     .     . 
Spanish    Dry    Diggings.      Grit   Claim,  dendritic  gold 
(Fricot's  specimen)      

101  40 

525.00 
"?.t;oo  oo 

1867 

Pilot  Hill.     Bowlder  of  gold  quartz  ...     f     ... 

426 

8,000.00 

490 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


DATE. 

LOCALITY. 

WEIGHT. 

VALUE  AP- 
PROXIMATELY. 

El  Dorado  County  —  Continued. 

Ounces. 

i860 

Spanish  Dry  Diggings,  Pennsylvania  Seam,  2^  Ibs.    . 

36 

$5,000.00 

1854 

Spanish  Dry  Diggings,  near  the  Grit  Seam.     (Texas  & 

Jacobs)      

I,IOO.OO 

Tuolumne  County. 

1848 

\Vood's  Creek,  below  Sonora   .          

QOO 

Knapp's  Ranch,  east  of  Columbia.     A   slab-shaped 

mass,  I4"x9"x  5",  which,  with  other  fragments  .     . 

396+ 

8,500.00 

i8xn 

Sullivan's  Creek   28  Ibs.  .              •  .     . 

408 

7.CQO.OO 

iS/IQ 

Gold  Hill  near  Columbia    

360 

6,500.00 

Spring  Gulch,  near  Columbia.     (Globular  form) 

5,OOO.OO 

1850 

Holden's  Garden,  Sonora.     A  mass  of  quartz  and  gold 

30,000.00 

l8<;^ 

Columbia  .          ...                         ...               . 

28^ 

<;  26^  oo 

One  of  the  largest  and  finest  gold  nuggets  ever  unearthed 'in  Cali- 
fornia has  recently  been  on  exhibition  in  San  Francisco.  It  is  about 
the  size  of  an  ordinary  Derby  hat,  weighs  thirty-five  pounds,  and  is 
worth  about  six  thousand  dollars.  Great  "  gobs  "  of  gold  hang  out 
of  its  sides. 


ARIZONA. 

More  than  two  hundred  years  ago  the  Spaniards  worked  the 
mines  in  what  is  now  the  territory  of  Arizona,  and  carried  away  mil- 
lions and  millions  of  dollars.  Baron  Humboldt,  and  others,  say  that 
"  masses  of  virgin  silver,  weighing  from  twenty  to  as  high  as  two  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  pounds  "  were  sent  to  the  Spanish  Crown  for 
tribute.  Cozzens,  in  his  "Three  years  in  Arizona,  etc.,"  says  :  — 

"  If  the  reader  is  sufficiently  curious  to  visit  the  old  Custom  House 
at  Guaymas,  in  Sonora,  these  statements  can  be  substantiated  by 
reference  to  the  records  found  there.  Among  the  archives  therein 
contained  is  rather  a  remarkable  one,  establishing  the  fact  that,  in 
1683,  the  king's  attorney  brought  suit  to  recover  from  the  proprietor 
of  the  Real  del  Carmen  mine,  one  Don  Roderigo  Gandera,  a  mass  of 
virgin  silver,  taken  by  him  from  his  mine,  weighing  twenty-eight 
hundred  pounds,  which  the  officer  claimed  as  belonging  to  the  king 
because  it  was  a  curiosity  ;  and  all  curiosities  taken  from  the  soil,  of 
whatever  kind  or  nature,  belong  to  His  Most  Gracious  Majesty." 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  491 

This  is  the  largest  nugget  the  world  ever  recorded.  The  king 
who  brought  action  to  recover  it  named  the  country  in  which  it  was 
found  Arizuma,  which  means  silver-bearing.  From  this  was  derived 
its  present  name. 

There  is  no  question  about  the  great  wealth  of  the  Arizona  mines ; 
and  the  chief  reason  why  they  have  not  been  worked  more  extensively 
is  because  the  cruel  and  barbarous  Apaches  massacred  the  parties  mak- 
ing the  attempt.  The  mines  are  located  in  the  western  and  northern 
part  of  the  territory,  just  where  the  Apaches  can  conveniently  raid 
them.  As  an  example,  the  Patagonia  mine  was  worked  by  Spaniards 
in  1760;  in  1820  the  Apaches  massacred  every  miner  who  did  not 
flee,  and  the  mine  was  not  only  abandoned,  but  forgotten.  In  1856 
it  was  rediscovered,  a  company  organized,  smelting-houses,  reduction 
works,  dwellings,  and  storehouses  erected,  and  a  marvellously  lucra- 
tive business  inaugurated.  But  when  the  company  was  making  an 
actual  daily  profit  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  the 
Apaches  stole  all  the  stock  of  the  company,  murdered  the  superin- 
tendent and  many  of  the  miners,  and  put  a  speedy  end  to  further 
business  in  that  mine.  From  that  day  the  mine  has  not  been  worked, 
and  the  buildings  and  machinery  have  gone  to  decay.  While  there  is 
less  peril  to  miners  in  that  country  to-day,  it  is  still  true  that  the 
Apaches  are  a  terror  to  the  country,  and  doubtless  will  continue  to 
be  until  the  government  effectually  conquers  or  destroys  them,  for 
which  we  most  devoutly  pray. 

True,  the  isolation  of  the  country,  being  without  a  port  of  entry, 
and  more  than  a  thousand  miles  from  the  nearest  supply-point,  at 
the  time  of  the  last  raid  of  the  Apaches  on  the  Patagonia  mine,  was 
a  great  hindrance  to  successful  mining.  A  steam-engine  for  the 
mine  was  drawn  by  mules  from  Lavacca,  Tex.,  fourteen  hundred 
miles  ;  also  a  boiler  weighing  six  thousand  pounds.  Now,  of  course, 
since  the  Territory  has  been  penetrated  by  railroads,  this  isolation  is 
a  thing  of  the  past;  but  the  terrible  savages  remain  "creation's 
blot." 

E.  J.  Farmer  says,  in  his  "  Resources  of  the  Rocky  Mountains," 
issued  in  1883  :  — 

"  The  mineral  resources  of  Arizona,  like  those  of  the  entire  region 
of  the  Rockies,  are  only  just  beginning  to  be  known  ;  and  yet  the 
production  of  the  Territory,  in  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead,  for  1882, 
was  $i  1,700,000,  giving  Arizona  the  fourth  place  in  the  list.  As  the 
Territory  i?  full  of  mountains,  so  do  the  mountains  seem  to  be  full  of 
mineral ;  and  gold,  silver,  copper,  lecd,  coal,  and  salt  have  been  dis- 


492  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

covered.  Gold,  here,  is  mostly  found  in  veins  of  quartz ;  sometimes 
it  is  combined  with  iron  and  copper  pyrites,  while  from  placers  in  the 
beds  of  some  streams,  it  is  collected  in  a  pure  state.  Silver  is  found 
here  in  nearly  all  its  combinations  ;  as  carbonates,  sulphurets,  chlo- 
rides, bromides,  silver-glance,  and  as  pure  metal.  The  proportion  of 
rich  galena  ores,  as  compared  with  those  of  Colorado,  is  extremely 
small,  yet  of  other  silver  combinations  there  are  an  abundance.  The 
copper  deposits  of  Arizona  are  probably  the  finest  on  the  continent, 
the  Lake  Superior  region  not  excepted.  Mining  may  be  said  to 
have  recommenced  in  this  portion  of  New  Spain  in  1860;  for  the 
precious  metals  have  been  known  to  exist  here  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years,  and  were  mined  at  that  time  by  the  Spaniards." 

From  the  same  authority  we  learn  that  the  famous  Tombstone 
district  was  yielding,  when  he  wrote,  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
($$00,000)  monthly.  There  are  more  than  twenty  famous  mines  in 
this  district,  which  extends  five  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  eight 
from  east  to  west ;  each  one  capitalized  for  from  two  to  ten  million 
dollars. 

The  output  of  the  Contention  Consolidated  for  1882  was  one  mil- 
lion eight  hundred  fourteen  thousand  dollars  ($1,814,000). 

The  output  of  the  Grand  Central,  for  the  same  time,  was  one  mil- 
lion three  hundred  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars  ($1,358,0x30).  And  that 
of  the  Tombstone  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Company  was  one  million 
four  hundred  forty  thousand  dollars  ($1,440,000). 

The  Silver  King  rewards  its  owners  with  a  large  output,  seven  hun- 
dred forty-one  thousand  ($741,000)  in  1882.  The  McCracken  lode  has 
yielded  over  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($800,000)  ;  the  Hackberry 
and  McMorris  nearly  half  a  million  each. 

In  Yuma  County  gold  was  discovered  in  placers,  in  1862,  and  one 
million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($1,500,000)  were  taken  out  in 
three  years.  The  mines  of  the  Castle-Donee  district  have  yielded 
more  than  two  million  dollars  ($2,000,000). 

The  Vulture  mine,  in  Mariposa  County,  has  yielded  more  money 
than  any  mine  in  Arizona  Territory — three  million  dollars  ($3,000,- 
ooo). 

It  is  claimed  that  the  copper  mines  of  Arizona  are  richer  than  any 
other  copper  mines  in  the  world.  The  Copper  Queen  mine  had 
yielded  over  two  million  dollars  ($2,000,000)  up  to  Jan.  I,  1883. 
Arizona  is  called  the  "  Copper  Queen  of  the  Rockies." 

In  confirmation  of  much  that  has  been  said  about  Arizona,  the 
following  table  shows  shares,  capital,  aggregate  dividends,  of  five  of 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


493 


the  most  valuable  mines  in  that  territory  Jan.  i,  1885,  with  time  last 
dividend  was  paid  :  — 


NAME  OF  MINK. 

SHARES. 

CAPITAL. 

DIVIDENDS. 

LAST  DIVIDEND  PAID. 

Grand  Central  etc  

100  ooo 

$10000  ooo 

$800  ooo 

Dec.,          1882 

100,000 

10,000,000 

I.TCO.OOO 

Dec.    15,  1884 

Tombstone  Mill,  etc.  .  .  .  .  • 

500,000 

12,500,000 

1,250,000 

April  12,   1882 

Contention  Mining  Company 
Vizini  Consolidated,  etc.  .  .  . 

250,000 
200,000 

12,500,000 
5,000,000 

1,187,500 
145,000 

Dec.    24,  1884 
Nov.,          1884 

DAKOTA. 

While  Dakota  is  known  the  world  over  for  her  great  farms,  her 
mines  are  no  less  famous.  The  rich  gulches  of  Whitewood  and 
Deadwood  creeks  became  known  in  1875,  an^  m  two  years  four 
million  dollars  ($4,000,000)  in  gold  were  taken  out. 

The  Homestate  produced  one  million  one  hundred  fourteen  thou- 
sand five  hundred  sixty-eight  dollars  ($1,114,568)  in  1882,  one  million 
one  hundred  seventy  thousand  nine  hundred  and  nineteen  dollars 
($1,170,919)  in  1883,  and  one  million  two  hundred  fifty -two  thousand 
seven  hundred  sixty-five  dollars  and  seventy  cents  ($1,252,765.70)  in 
1884;  the  Father  De  Smet,  three  hundred  ninety-one  tliousand  two 
hundred  sixty-nine  dollars  ($391,269),  three  hundred  fifty-five  thou- 
sand four  hundred  twenty-three  dollars  and  sixty-one  cents  ($355,- 
423.61),  and  four  hundred  seventy-four  thousand  five  Jiundred  fifty -two 
dollars  ninety-four  cents  ($474,552.94),  in  the  same  years  respectively  ; 
and  the  Deadwood  Terra,  five  hundred  fifty-one  thousand  fifty-two  dol- 
lars ($551,052),  two  hundred  forty-five  thousand  six  Jiundred  and  fifty 
dollars  ($245,650),  and  four  hundred  sixty-six  thousand  five  hundred 
thirty -two  dollars  and  seventy-eight  cents  ($466,532.78). 

The  production  of  gold  in  the  Black  Hills  of  Dakota  from  1876  to 
Aug.  i,  1882,  amounted  to  tiventy-two  million  dollars  ($22,000,000)  ; 
and  the  average  annual  yield  since  has  been  about  five  million  dollars 
($5,000,000). 

The  Highland  mine  produced  five  hundred  eleven  thousand  seven 
hundred  forty  dollars  and  thirty-two  cents  ($5 1 1,740.32)  in  1884. 

The  director  of  the  mint  at  Washington  estimated  the  gold  and 
silver  yield  of  Dakota  in  1884  at  three  million  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  ($3,450,000). 


494  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


IDAHO. 

The  Vishnu  and  Elmore  mines  have  yielded  more  than  two 
million  dollars  ($2,000,000). 

At  Gold  Hill  a  single  mill  has  run  twelve  years  and  produced  two 
million  six  hundred  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($2,650,000). 

The  placers  in  Stanley  Basin,  Custer  County,  were  discovered  in 
1 862,  and  yielded,  in  ten  years,  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Since 
then  a  few  men  only  have  worked  them,  taking  out  one  hundred 
thousand  more.  In  the  early  days  of  the  mine,  one  man,  with 
a  "  rocker,"  took  out  nine  hundred  dollars  in  one  day.  Loon  Creek 
produced  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  three  years. 

A  twenty-stamp,  dry-crushing  mill  was  erected  in  Yankee  Fork 
District  in  1 880,  since  which  time  it  has  turned  out  three  million  dol- 
lars ($3,000,000). 

Custer  County  has  added  one  million  three  hundred  fifty  thousand 
dollars  ($1,350,000)  to  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  gold  from  its  placers, 
and  from  its  quartz  mines  six  million  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars 
($6,800,000). 

Semhi  County,  since  1867,  has  yielded  eight  million  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars  ($8,700,000).  Its  yield  in  1885  was  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and,  with  more  capital  and  proper  reduction  ma- 
chinery, that  amount  might  have  been  easily  trebled. 

The  Poorman  mine,  in  Ouzhee  County,  received  in  return  ninety 
thousand  dollars  ($90,000)  for  its  first  shipment  of  one  hundred  tons 
of  ore.  Soon  after,  fifteen  tons,  shipped  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  yielded 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  ($75,000).  Its  yield  produced  some  of 
the  richest  specimens  of  ruby  and  native  silver  ever  mined.  A  speci- 
men of  this  ruby,  about  two  feet  square  and  sixty  per  cent  pure 
silver,  received  a  special  gold  medal  at  the  Paris  Exposition. 

The  Morning  Star  has  produced  one  million  dollars}  ($1,000,000), 
one  lot  of  one  hundred  tons  yielding  one  thousand  dollars  per  ton. 

The  Elmore,  with  a  twenty-stamp  mill,  yielded  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  ($600,000)  in  a  thirty  days'  run. 

E.  J.  Farmer  shows  the  great  wealth  of  Idaho's  mines  by  the 
following  table :  — 

Oro  Fino  Mine has  produced  $2,756,128 

Old  Elmore  Mine "  2,000,000 

Golden  Chariot  and  Minnesota 3,000,000 

Mahogany  Mine "  1,200,000 

Poorman  Mine "  4,000,000 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  495 

Morning  Star  Mine has  produced  $1,000,000 

Monarch  Mine 1,100,000 

Buffalo  Mine "  1,000,000 

Ada  Elmore  Mine "  1,200,000 

Confederate  Star  Mine "  350,000 

Vishnu  Mine "  850,000 

Wild  West  Mine "  300,000 

Red  Warrior,  Elk  Creek,  Feathery  River,  and  Bear  Creek  Placers  "  2,000,000 

Custer,  Dickens,  Montana,  etc "  1,250,000 

Mt.  Estes  Mines "  2,000,000 

Ramshorn 600,000 

And  he  adds:  "The  mines  whose  product  is  from  $10,000  to 
$50,000  per  annum  can  be  counted  by  scores,  many  of  which  will 
doubtless  in  time  prove  bonanzas.  Sufficient  development  has  been 
made  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  Idaho  has  rich  veins  of  the 
precious  metals,  and  that  when  her  resources  shall  become  known  to 
the  world,  she  will  have  a  brilliant  future.  There  are  yet  thousands 
of  square  miles  of  her  metal-ribbed  mountains  that  have  never  been 
trodden  by  a  white  man's  foot,  and  where  prospecting  will  be  carried 
on  for  years  to  come,  with  success." 

The  following  table  shows  the  estimated  production  of  the  precious 
metals  in  Idaho  since  first  discovery  :  — 

Year.                                                      Amount  Produced.  Year.  .  Amount  Produced. 

1862 $5,OOO,OOO.OO  I     1874 $3,100,447.69 

1863 7,448,400.91  j     1875 1,983,720.27 

1864 9,019,704.30  ;     1876 2,267,013.36 

1865 12,914,364.25  1877 3,474,787.69 

1866 10,001,850.44      |      1878 2,657,216.91 

1867 7,388,064.31  i  1879 2,553,634.58 

1868 3,030,213.56  1880 1,634,637.19 

1869 1,613,453.68  j  1881 4,915, loo.oo 

1870 2,239,190.61  |  1882 5,500,000.00 

1871 2,219,937.94  i  1833 5,000,000.00 


1872 2,675,192.00 

1873 


1884  (estimated)     ....       6.500,000.00 
Total  production     .     .     .       $106,790,530.14 

Here  is  a  Territory,  so  isolated  and  subject  to  the  depredations  of 
savage  tribes,  until  within  five  or  six  years,  as  to  interfere  with  min- 
ing and  all  other  industries,  adding  more  than  a  hundred  million 
dollars  to  the  world's  wealth. 

From  the  Montana  mine  four  men  took  out  eighty  thousand  dol- 
lars ($80,000)  in  six  months. 

The  Mayflower  produced  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($200,000) 
in  1 88 1,  and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($500,000)  in  1882.  It 


496  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

was  sold  to  J.  V.  Farwell  at  the  beginning  of  1882  for  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  ($375,000). 

The  Idahoan  produced  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($300,000) 
in  1882,  and  the  Jay  Gould  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($200.000). 

The  Ramshorn  was  discovered  in  1877,  since  which  time  it  has 
yielded  tzuo  million  dollars  ($2,000,000).  In  1882  its  yield  was  over 
three  'hundred  thousand  dollars  ($300,000). 

From  the  West  Fork  mine  one  man  took  out  fifty  thousand  dollars 
in  twenty  days. 

The  Bullion  mine  yielded  one  hundred  twenty-fi ve  thousand  in  1883  ; 
from  Nov.  I  to  Dec.  10  of  that  year  the  yield  was  seventy-two  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  sixty  dollars  ($72,960)  ;  this  in  forty  days.  The 
whole  Bullion  district  yielded  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($700,- 
ooo)  in  1882,  and  one  million  dollars  in  1883. 

The  stock  capital  of  the  Idahoan  mines  is  ten  million  dollars. 

The  Minnie  Moore  was  sold  for  one  million  dollars. 

One  mine  in  Warm  Spring  Creek  yields  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  ($300,000)  annually.  Three  others  yielded  one  million  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  ($i,2OO,OOo)  in  a  single  season. 


MONTANA. 

Although  Montana  is  so  remote  and  isolated,  the  Territory  ranks 
next  to  the  State  of  California  in  the  production  of  gold.  The  dis- 
covery of  rich  placer  mines  in  1862  caused  a  rush  to  that  country, 
and  within  three  years  from  the  time  miners  were  fairly  settled 
down  to  work,  Alder  Gulch  alone,  thirteen  miles  long,  yielded  sixty 
million  dollars  ($60,000,000). 

Since  gold  mining  commenced  in  Montana,  the  Territory  has 
produced,  including  copper  and  lead,  two  hundred  million  dollars 
($200,000,000). 

The  gold  output  for  1884  amounted  to  $2,170,150.00.  The  silver 
output  for  1884  amounted  to  $8,138,350.00;  total,  $10,308,500.00. 

Four  large  companies  to  prosecute  mining  were  organized  in 
Lewis  and  Clarke  County  in  1884,  and  others  have  been  added  from 
month  to  month  since :  the  Bald  Mountain  Mining  Company,  with 
capital  of  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($2,500,000)  ; 
the  Clany  Creek  Mining  Company,  with  capital  of  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  ($2,500,000)  ;  the  Crown  Point  Mining 
Company,  with  capital  of  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  497 

($2,500,000)  ;  and  the  National  Mining  Company,  with  capital  of 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($500,000). 

The  Hecla  Company  produced  six  hundred  ninety-two  thousand 
eight  hundred  twenty-three  dollars  and  nine  cents  ($692,823.09)  in 
gold  and  silver,  in  1884;  and,  in  addition,  nearly  five  million  pounds 
of  lead,  and  more  than  a  third  of  a  million  pounds  of  copper. 

The  Penobscot  has  produced  one  and  a  half  million  dollars  since 
it  was  opened. 

The  Drum  Lummon  carries  a  vein  of  gold  and  silver  ninety  feet 
wide,  the  ore  averaging  fifty  dollars  per  ton.  In  1883  this  mine  was 
sold  to  an  English  company  for  one  million  six  Jiundred  thirty  thou- 
sand dollars  ($1,630,000).  Two  years  ago  it  was  claimed  that  this 
mine  had  $9,000,000  in  sight. 

The  output  of  the  Whitelash  Union  has  amounted  to  about  four 
million  dollars  to  this  date. 

Last  Chance  Gulch,  with  its  tributaries,  has  yielded  sixteen  million 
dollars  ($16,000,000). 

The  Butte  City  region  produces  about  six  million  dollars  per 
annum,  including  copper.  The  Alice  is  found  here,  which  paid 
dividends  amounting  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  five  years. 
In  1884  the  whole  property  of  the  company  yielded  one  million  two 
hundred  tJiousand  dollars  ($1,200,000). 

The  Lexington  is  a  high-grade  silver  mine,  and  was  sold  to  a 
French  company  in  1881  for  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
In  1884  its  output  was  one  million  two  hundred  eighty-nine  thousand 
six  hundred  eighty-Jive  dollars  and  thirty-four  cents  ($1,289,685.34). 
Its  monthly  yield  when  the  Washington  mint  director  reported  last 
was  nearly  one  Jmndred  thousand  dollars. 

The  Algonquin  yields  one  Jiundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

The  Alta  and  the  Comet  mines  together  produced  three  hundred 
forty-three  thousand  four  hundred  forty-eight  dollars  ($343,448)  in  a 
single  year,  over  and  above  all  expenses. 

The  mines  of  the  Helena  Company  yielded  one  million  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  ($1,100,000)  in  1884. 

The  Alice  has  produced  $100,000  per  month  ;  the  Gloster,  $50,000 
per  month;  the  Cable  has  yielded  $1,000,000.  and  has  $1,500,000  in 
sight. 

The  Elkhorn  produced  in  ten  months,  ending  Dec.  31,  1884, 
one  hundred  seventy  thousand  six  hundred  ninety-six  dollars. 

The  Valdemere,  which  began  work  in  1883,  paidyfw  Jiundred  fifty 


498 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  499 

thousand  dollars  in  dividends  in  eighteen  months,  and  has  continued 
to  pay  at  this  rate. 

The  Moulton  is  capitalized  at  two  million  dollars  ($2,000,000),  and 
yielded,  in  1883,  three  hundred  seventy-six  thousand  six  hundred 
eighty-four  dollars  and  twenty  cents  ($376,684.20)  ;  and  in  1884  its 
output  was  over  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  Bell  mine  yielded  four  hundred  fifty  thousand  dollars  in 
1884. 

The  illustration  of  Red  Mountain  exhibits  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant undeveloped  mining  regions  of  the  United  States.  A  writer 
says :  — 

"  This  mineral  field  covers  an  area  of  about  twelve  miles  square, 
and  contains  vast  deposits  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  and  tin.  The 
district  was  discovered  about  twenty  years  ago,  and  there  are  now 
nearly  three  hundred  mineral  locations,  and  it  may  be  truthfully  said 
that  it  is  the  most  important  undeveloped  mineral  field  in  Montana, 
or  even  in  the  United  States." 

Of  course  the  scenery  is  surpassingly  grand.  The  editor  of  the 
Montana  Stock  and  Mining  Journal  says  :  — 

"  In  point  of  scenic  beauty,  Red  Mountain  and  its  surroundings 
probably  excel  that  of  any  camp  in  Montana.  The  beautiful  Beaver 
Creek  leaping  from  its  dizzy  height,  through  its  narrow,  rocky  defile, 
to  a  commingling  with  the  waters  of  the  Ten-mile,  at  the  very  foot 
of  Red  Mountain,  presents  a  study  worthy  of  the  pencil  of  the  great- 
est artist  the  world  can  produce.  Switzerland,  under  treatment  of 
the  most  enthusiastic  writer,  cannot  furnish  a  more  beautiful  picture, 
and  the  entire  canon  of  the  Ten-mile,  from  the  Hot  Springs,  near 
Helena,  to  the  source  of  the  stream  at  Red  Mountain,  is  one  grand 
kaleidoscope  of  ever-changing  grandeur,  baffling  the  power  of  pen  to 
describe.  A  good  and  natural  wagon  road  leads  from  Helena  to  the 
mines,  through  the  canon,  unfolding  its  great  beauties  at  each  turn, 
in  an  atmosphere  laden  with  the  perfume  of  countless  thousands  of 
blossoming  flowers,  as  one  might  turn  the  pages  of  an  intensely  inter- 
esting book  inspired  by  some  favorite  author." 

Immense  deposits  of  coal,  iron,  copper,  and  lead  are  found  in  the 
Territory.  Professor  Raymond  says  :  — 

"  The  almost  uniform  experience  of  working  Montana  copper  veins 
has  been  to  demonstrate  that  the  veins  improve  in  width  and  rich- 
ness the  deeper  the  shafts  are  sunk.  At  a  depth  of  from  eighty  to 
one  hundred  feet,  several  of  them  show  ore  that  will  average  fifty  per 
cent  copper,  though  near  the  surface  the  same  openings  yielded  ore 


500  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST,. 

carrying  but  twenty-five  to  thirty-three  per  cent.  The  lodes  of  cop- 
per are  abundant,  and  the  veins  from  four  to  one  hundred  feet  in 
width." 

E.  J.  Farmer  says :  "  Precious  stones,  as  agates,  garnets,  rubies, 
amethyst,  and  jasper,  are  found  in  many  localities.  A  ledge  of  ame- 
thyst eighteen  inches  wide  has  recently  been  discovered  on  Running 
Wolf  Creek,  and  a  mountain  of  jasper,  near  Belmont  Park.  Ledges 
of  fine  white  marble  and  sandstone  of  superior  quality  have  been 
found  in  Madison  County." 

Montana  claims  to  have  the  four  greatest  mines  in  the  world,  — 
the  Anaconda,  Bluebird,  Granite  Mountain,  and  Drum  Lummon. 
Their  combined  product  for  1886  was  nearly  $9,000,00x3. 


NEVADA. 

The  fame  of  Nevada  is  world-wide  on  account  of  the  Comstock 
lode,  which  once  yielded  almost  fabulous  wealth. 

The  Eureka  Mining  Company  produced,  in  1884,  four  hundred 
eighty-four  thousand  four  hundred  twenty  dollars  and  ninety-four 
cents  ($484,420.94). 

The  Manhattan  Silver  Mining  Company  have  operated  their  mill 
for  ten  months  during  the  year,  producing  from  their  mines  5,204 
tons  of  bullion,  averaging  $231.50  per  ton,  which  was  shipped  to 
London,  and  yielded  $1,128,909.91.  The  mines  of  this  company 
have  been  worked  continuously  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  are 
estimated  to  have  produced  over  $20,000,000. 

The  output  of  the  Yellow  Jacket  mine,  in  1884,  was  :  gold,  $294,- 
798.94;  silver,  $489,853.66;  total,  seven  hundred  fourteen  thousand 
six  hundred  fifty-two  dollars  and  sixty  cents  ($714,652.60). 


COMSTOCK  LODE, 

Showing  shares,  capital,  aggregate  dividends,  and  when  last  divi- 
dend was  paid.  The  reader  will  see  that  the  dividends  ceased,  with 
most  of  them,  several  years  ago  :  — 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


501 


NAME  OF    MINE. 

SHARES. 

CAPITAL. 

DIVIDENDS. 

LAST   DIVIDEND. 

Belcher  Silver  Mining  Co.  .  . 
Chollar  Mining  Co  

IO4,OOO 
112,000 
24,960 
100,000 
lOS.OOO 
112,000 
3O,OOO 
1OO,8OO 
I  I2.OOO 
IOO,OOO 
68,400 
120,000 

$IO,4OO,OOO 
II,2OO,OOO 
2,496,OOO 
IO,OOO,OOO 
I0,800,000 
11,200,000 
3,OOO,OOO 
.  IO,OOO,8OO 
II,2OO,OOO 
IO.OOO,OOO 
6,840,000 
12,000,000 

$15,397,200 
3,080,000 
78,000 

11,688,000 
3,825,800 
1,598,000 
1,300,000 
1,596,400 
4,560,000 
102,500 
22,800 
2,184,000 

April  10,   1876 
Feb.     10,   1872 
May      i,   1865 
Jan.     12,   1875 
Oct.     20,  1870 
April  10,   1871 
Aug.    20,  1884 
Jan.     17,   1880 
June    11,  1869 
Jan.     i  6,  1871 
Oct.     1  6,  1871 
Aug.    10,  1871 

Confidence  Mining  Co  

Crown  and  Point,  etc  
Gould  &  Curry,  etc  

Hale  &  Norcross,  etc  
Iventuck  Mining  Co  

Ophir  Mining  Co  

Savage  Gold  and  Silver,  etc.  . 
Sierra  Nevada,  etc    .  .  . 

Succor  Mill   etc. 

Yellow  Jacket,  etc  

Total  dividends,  $45,432,700. 

The  whole  output  of  the  above  mines  was  nearly  double  the  divi- 
dends, the  expenses  amounting  to  about  forty  millions.  The  forty- 
five  million  four  hundred  tJiirty-tivo  tJwusand  seven  hundred  dollars 
($45,432,700)  went  into  the  pockets  of  stockholders  as  dividends. 

From  a  report  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute  of  San  Francisco,  in 
1867,  we  extract  the  following  upon  the  yield  of  bullion  by  the  Corn- 
stock  lode  :  — 

"The  annual  product  for  the  last  five  years  has  been  in  round 
numbers  as  follows  :  — 

1862  $4,000,000 

1863 12,000,000 

1864 16,000,000 

1865  15,000,000 

1866 16,000,000 


Total  product  in  five  years $63,000,000 

"The  total  annual  production  of  silver  in  the  world  in  1854  is 
stated  by  Professor  Whitney  at  $47,443,200.  The  bullion  obtained 
from  the  Comstock  lode  in  1866  is,  therefore,  more  than  one-third 
greater  in  value  than  all  the  silver  product  of  the  world  in  1854. 
Mexico,  in  its  most  flourishing  days,  from  1795  to  1810,  produced  an 
annual  average  of  $24,000,000  from  several  thousand  mines.  After 
1810,  when  the  revolution  took  place,  the  yield  of  the  mines  fell  in 
some  years  to  as  low  a  figure  as  $4,500,000,  but  the  average  from  1810 


5O2 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


to  1825  shows  $10,000,000.  At  the  present  time  the  entire  product 
of  Mexico  does  not  exceed  that  of  the  Comstock  lode. 

"The  celebrated  mines  of  Potosi  averaged  about  $4,000,000  per 
annum  for  three  hundred  years;  those  of  the  Veta  Madre  (mother 
vein)  of  Guanajuato  about  $3,000,000  for  an  equal  period;  and  the 
mines  of  the  Real  del  Monte  Company,  on  the  Biscanya  vein  in 
Mexico,  over  $400,000  for  the  last  one  hundred  and  ten  years,  or  a 
total  of  $44,000,000,  a  less  amount  than  has  been  obtained  from  the 
Comstock  lode  in  the  last  three  years." 

The  dividends  of  ten  mines  on  Comstock  lode  for  the  second  quar- 
ter of  1867  were  as  follows  :  — 


COMPANY. 

APRIL. 

MAY. 

JUNE. 

TOTAL. 

Savage  .         

$80  ooo 

5  1  20  ooo 

$160  ooo 

$160  ooo 

Hale  &  Norcross   

5O,OOO 

50  ooo 

50  ooo 

150  ooo 

Imperial  

6O,OOO 

60,000 

40,000 

160  ooo 

Yellow  Jacket  

60,000 

90,000 

150,000 

Chollar  Potosi    

70  ooo 

70,000 

140  ooo 

Kentuck  

40000 

60,000 

IOO  OOO 

Crown  Point  

48,OOO 

48,000 

96,000 

Gold  Hill,  etc  

?  OOO 

c  ooo 

s.ooo 

15  ooo 

Kmpire  Mill   etc.      .  .         .  . 

7.OOO 

7  200 

Gould  &  Curry    . 

Total    

$1,178,200 

The  production  of  nine  mines  of  Nevada  to  March,  1882,  were  as 
follows  :  — 

Belcher $15,397,000 

California  Gold  and  Silver  Mining  Company 31,510,000 

Consolidated  Virginia,  etc 42,930,000 

Crown  Point,  etc 11,588,000 

Eureka  Consolidated,  etc 

Gould  &  Curry 

Northern  Bell,  etc 

Richmond  Consolidated,  etc 

Savage  


4,705,000 

3,826,000 

2,162,500 

3.742,550 

7,460,000 

Total $123,321,050 

A  company  proposes  to  dredge  the  Carson  River  in  Nevada  for 
quicksilver  and  amalgam.  Eighteen  miles  of  river  bed  have  been 
selected.  It  is  estimated  that  ten  per  cent  of  the  bullion  product  of 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


503 


the  Comstock  mines  has  flowed  as  tailings  into  the  Carson  River,  and 
that  at  least  $40,000,000  will  be  recovered. 

Production    of    Shorey  County,  in  which    the  Comstock   lode  is 
situated,  in  1866:  — 

January $816,430.43 


February 
March  . 
April     . 
May 
June 

July     - 


971,643.46 
,061,577.65 
,052,759.89 
,145,293.41 
,244,297.54 
,198,741.56 


August $1,420,902.35 

September 1,169,391.46 

October 1,409,220.00 

November 1,327,985.00 

December 1,348,828.80 


Total $14,167,071.55 


In  United  States  currency  this  represents  a  value  of  $18,072,934. 
Production  of  Shorey  County  first  six  months  of  1867  :  — 


January $1,330,832.80 

February 1,238,811.63 

March 979,786.78 


April $1,567,427.60 

May 1,784,724.25 

June 1,594,794.22 

Total $8,501,377.28 

July 1,613,559-75 

Total $10,114,937.03, 


NEW   MEXICO. 

Little  attention,  comparatively,  had  been  given  to  mining  in  the 
Territory  of  New  Mexico.  Other  fields  have  been  more  inviting  to 
miners  than  this ;  and  yet  there  is  no  question  that  gold-seekers  in 
the  future  will  find  this  to  be  a  high  paying  locality,  if  not  a  bonanza. 
G.  S.  Haskell,  Esq.,  was  the  commissioner  of  New  Mexico  to  the 
Denver  Exposition,  and  from  his  report  of  the  Territory's  display 
there  we  extract  the  following  :— 

"  The  Lake  Valley  district  made  a  showing  which  far  surpassed 
anything  else  in  the  building  in  the  way  of  rich  ores  coming  from 
large  bodies.  The  verdict  was  universal  and  unequivocal.  They 
were  inclosed  in  three  glass  cases.  In  one  was  a  piece  of  horn  silver 
weighing  640  pounds  valued  at  $7,240.  A  ton  of  this  ore  is  worth 
$22,625.69.  Eight  men  in  eight  hours  took  out  $130,000  worth  of  it. 
One  brick  of  241  pounds,  value  $2,169.14,  990  fine,  was  shown,  which 
was  run  from  241  pounds  of  the  ore.  This  ore  is  all  from  the  mines 
of  the  Sierra  Grande  company.  The  output  at  present  is  at  the  rate 
of  about  $5,000,000  per  annum. 

"  Percha  district,  where  the  recent  new  discovery  was  made,  was 
represented  by  one  piece  of  ore  weighing  150  pounds,  value  Si, 800, 


504 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


raken  from  the  Solitaire  claim,  bonded  by  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  for  $100,- 
ooo.  It  is  a  sulphide  of  silver  and  native  silver,  running  sixty-nine  per 
cent  in  the  pure  metal.  This  is  probably  the  largest  piece  of  sulphide 
of  silver  ever  discovered.  A  smaller  piece  of  equal  richness  was  exhib- 
ited, in  which  the  grass  roots  were  seen. 

"  The  Organ  district  was  represented  by  about  thirty  mines,  of 
which  we  can  mention  only  a  few.  Copper  Duke,  eight  feet  wide, 
discovered  in  September,  nine  feet  of  development,  runs  forty  to  sixty 
per  cent  in  copper  and  as  high  as  $150,000  gold.  This  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  free  gold  specimens  shown." 


LAKE  VALLEY   SMELTING  WORKS. 

From  Ritch's  "  Illustrated  New  Mexico  "  we  extract  the  follow- 
ing:— 

"There  is,  however,  one  young  giant  among  the  mining  camps 
which  has  so  wonderfully  and  so  recently  come  into  existence,  and 
the  fact  with  reference  to  which,  read  so  much  like  a  chapter  from 
the  '  Arabian  Night's  Entertainments/  that  we  here  transfer  an  extract 
from  a  paper  prepared  by  an  able  pen,  and  in  which  statement  the 
writer  hereof,  who  has  personally  visited  and  examined  the  camp  in 
question,  is  prepared  to  verify. 

"'There  are  at  Daly  (now  Lake  Valley)  not  less  than  7,000  tons 
of  ore  on  the  dumps,  running  from  $100  to  $20,000  to  the  ton  ;  and 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  505 

in  the  mines,  already  uncovered  and  exposed  to  view,  there  are  cer- 
tainly not  less  than  20,000  tons  more  of  the  same  kind  and  richer 
ore.  We  believe  we  saw,  in  the  two  hours  it  took  us  to  view  the 
mines,  not  less  than  $15,000,000  worth  of  ore.  That  running  from 
$200  to  $300  to  the  ton  is  classed  as  low  grade  in  this  camp.  The 
pay  begins  at  the  grass  roots  and  even  in  places  at  the  croppings 
above  the  ground,  and  continues  to  a  depth  already  reached,  of  fifty 
feet,  and  along  the  hillside  for  a  distance  of  probably  2,000  feet.  The 
deepest  shaft  we  descended  was  not  over  fifty  feet,  and  the  ore  body 
was  still  pitching  downward.  Huge  caverns  have  been  excavated 
beneath  the  grass,  with  only  a  thin  roof  of  limestone  or  porphyry, 
from  one  to  six  or  eight  feet  thick  supported  on  timbers,  which  gives 
the  place  a  wild,  weird  appearance,  with  its  huge  mountains  of  silver 
ore  rolled  one  upon  another  by  Nature  in  her  throes  with  some  pri- 
meval volcano,  and  prepares  one  for  the  appearance,  in  some  dark 
corner,  of  the  genius  who  presides  over  Nature's  treasures.  Instinct- 
ively one  raises  his  candle  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  magic  chambers. 
Here  the  rock  is  black,  and  looks  like  iron  slag  from  some  huge  forge ; 
there  it  has  a  reddish  cast,  as  though  the  internal  fires  to  which  it 
owes  its  origin  had  not  yet  cooled  off ;  yonder  the  ore  loses  its  char- 
acteristics as  a  rock  formation  and  resembles  a  huge  mass  of  soft 
quicksilver  amalgam,  both  to  the  touch  and  to  the  eye ;  in  another 
spot  it  hangs  in  beautiful,  glistening,  soft  chloride  crystals  which  feel 
damp  in  the  hand,  and  when  compressed  yield  to  the  pressure  and 
assume  the  shape  of  the  closed  palm,  like  dough.  The  latter  forma- 
tion is  more  readily  smelted  than  any  ore  we  ever  saw  before,  the 
flame  of  the  candle  sending  the  virgin  silver  dripping  down  the  wall 
like  shot.  We  had  heard  and  doubted  this  story  and  were  perfectly 
well  aware  of  the  fact  that,  according  to  the  chemistry,  it  requires 
1,873  degrees  Fahrenheit  to  fuse  silver;  yet  we  are  now  living  wit- 
nesses to  the  fact  that  the  flame  of  the  candle  held  against  the  pro- 
jecting crystals  of  chloride  of  silver  in  these  mines,  unaided  by  the 
blow-pipe,  is  sufficient  to  fuse  them  in  half  a  minute.  These  chlo- 
rides run  about  $27,000  to  the  ton ;  and  we  certainly  saw  of  them  and 
horn  silver  (equally  as  rich)  a  hundred  tons.  The  chamber  containing 
these  crystals  is  called  the  Bridal  Chamber ;  and  it  is  here  that  Gov- 
ernor Safford,  of  Arizona,  offered  to  give  $50,000  to  be  allowed  to 
carry  off  and  keep  all  the  ore  that  he  might  by  his  own  individual 
labor  extract  in  ten  hours.  There  is  scarcely  any  waste  rock.  There 
are  five  piles  of  ore  to  one  of  waste ;  and  it  is  with  difficulty  that  rock 
is  obtained  for  building  the  dumps  to  the  height  of  a  wagon  without 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

using  ore  for  the  purpose.'  "  But  for  our  reliable  authority,  the  fore- 
going might  seem  a  tale  of  fiction. 

American  occupation  of  New  Mexico  took  place  in  1846,  from 
which  time,  according  to  the  report  of  the  director  of  the  United 
States  mint,  to  Jan.  i,  1882,  the  output  of  the  Territory,  in  gold  and 
silver,  amounted  to  thirteen  million  nine  hundred  and  seventy-two  thou- 
sand dollars  ($13,972,000).  This  does  not  include,  of  course,  the  dis- 
coveries since  January,  1882,  which  embrace  the  remarkable  disclosures 
of  Lake  Valley  and  other  localities.  The  amount  would  be  nearly 
doubled  were  the  whole  output  to  the  present  date  included. 

The  Sierra  Grand  Mining  Company  paid  one  million  dollars  in 
dividends  to  the  stockholders  in  1883  and  1884. 

The  Merritt  mine  yielded  about  one  thousand  dollars  ($1,000)  per 
day  the  last  part  of  1884. 

Of  the  Kohinoor  of  Sierra  Apache,  Mr.  Ritch  says  :  — 

"  There  are  at  least  two  thousand  tons  of  ore  upon  the  dumps  of 
these  properties,  all  having  been  extracted  from  the  drifts,  cuts,  and 
winzes  (no  stoping  being  done),  and  its  estimated  value,  made  from 
close  samples  and  tests,  is  far  in  excess  of  the  original  purchase 
money,  which  is  popularly  supposed  to  have  been  $500,000.  Num- 
bers of  leading  mining  experts  have  recently  examined  these  proper- 
ties, and  it  is  stated  that  none  of  them  have  estimated  the  ore 
reserve  to  be  seen  at  less  than  $5,000,000." 

The  output  of  Seventy-Six  in  twelve  years  has  been  one  million 
two  hundred  sixty  thousand  dollars  ($1,260,000). 


UTAH. 

Although  Utah  is  called  "  the  Iron  Queen  of  the  Rockies "  on 
account  of  its  immense  beds  of  iron  ore,  it  ranks  fifth  among  the 
States  and  Territories  in  the  production  of  gold  and  silver. 

The  Eureka  Hill  Company's  output  in  1884  was  seven  Jiundrcd 
thousand  dollars  ($700,000),  in  round  numbers. 

The  following  companies  paid  dividends  in  1884,  as  follows  :  — 

Company.                                                                                                                      No.  of  Dividend.  Amount. 

Horn  Silver 4  $1,200,000 

Ontario       .... 12  900,000 

Eureka  Hill 6  120,000 

Ilonerine I  12,500 

Total #2,232,500 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  5°7 

The  Horn  Silver  is  capitalized  at  ten  million  dollars  ($10,000,000). 
The  following  table  shows  the  marvellous  product  from  Feb.  17, 
1879,  to  Jan.  i,  1885,  —  less  than  six  years:  — 

107,770,587  pounds  lead,  sold  in  Chicago  for $4,580,778.26 

6,148,906  ounces  silver,  sold  in  New  York  for 6,943,858.41 

11,678}^  ounces  silver,  sold  in  London  for 12,654.12 

2,585  ounces  silver  lost  by  railroad  company,  at  $1.12 2,891.20 

3,264,341  pounds  base  bullion,  sold  in  Utah  for 244,399.93 

12,301,963  pounds  ore,  sold  to  other  smelters  for 194,123.66 

Total  gross  yield  of  mine  to  the  company $11,978,705.58 

The  Flagstaff  yielded,  from  1871  to  1879,  over  five  million  dol- 
lars ($5,000,000),  when  the  vein  appeared  to  be  exhausted.  The 
company  has  recently  been  reorganized,  with  the  "  confident  expecta- 
tion that  this  lode  will  enter  on  a  second  producing  stage  from  end 
to  end." 

In  seven  years,  from  Feb.  I,  1877,  the  Ontario  Silver  Mining 
Company  realized  thirteen  million  five  hundred  thirty-nine  thousand 
nine  hundred  eighty-one  dollars  and  sixty-nine  cents  ($13,539,981.69). 
More  than  six  million  dollars  of  it  were  profit.  The  mine  is  owned 
by  a  company  in  San  Francisco,  with  capital  stock  of  fifteen  million 
dollars  ($15,000,000). 

The  Antelope  and  Prince  of  Wales  have  yielded  over  one  million 
dollars  ($1,000,000). 

It  is  estimated  that  the  so-called  American  Fork  district  yielded, 
from  1874  to  1884,  "500,000  tons  of  ore,  equal  to  100,000  tons  of 
bullion,  yielding  $8,800,000  in  silver,  $1,500,000  in  gold,  and  $5,000,- 
ooo  in  lead  ;  amounting  in  all  to  $15,300,000." 

The  Eureka  Hill  mine  yields  $33,000  per  month. 

The  Tecumseh,  Stormy  King,  California,  Maggie,  and  Silver  Flat 
mines  are  worked  by  the  Christy  Company,  with  a  capital  of  six 
million  dollars  ($6,ooo,ooo).  Fifty  thousand  tons  of  ore  yielded 
one  million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  ($1,300,000). 

The  Silver  Reef  produced  four  million  dollars  ($4,000,000)  in  five 
years. 

Mining  commenced  in  Utah  in  1870,  since  which  time  the  Terri- 
tory has  added  over  eighty  million  dollars  ($80,000,000)  to  the  wealth 
of  the  nation. 

Professor  Newberry  says  of  the  iron  ore  deposits  of  Utah  :  — 

"The  deposits  of  iron  ore  near  Iron  City  and  Iron  Springs,  in 
Southwestern  Utah,  are  probably  not  excelled  in  intrinsic  value  by 
any  in  the  world.  The  ore  is  magnetic  and  hematite,  and  occurs  in 


508 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


a  belt  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  long,  and  three  or  four  miles  wide, 
along  which  there  are  frequent  outcrops,  each  of  which  shows  a 
length  and  breadth  of  several  hundred  feet  of  compact,  massive  ore 
of  the  richest  quality.  There  are  certainly  no  other  such  deposits  of 
iron  ore  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  should  it  be  found  practicable 
to  use  Utah  coal  for  the  manufacture  of  pig  and  bar  iron,  and  steel, 
from  these  ore  beds,  it  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  influ- 
ence they  would  have  on  the  industries  of  the  Pacific  coast." 

Of  the  twenty  thousand  square  miles  of  coal  fields  in  the  Territory, 
the  Professor  says  :  — 

"Within  fifteen  miles  of  the  iron  ore  beds,  and  separated  from 
them  by  a  nearly  level  plain,  are  deposits  of  coal  which,  I  believe, 
can  be  successfully  used  for  smelting  iron,  and  which  are  certainly 
capable  of  furnishing  a  fuel  that  will  perform  all  the  other  duties  of 
coal,  and  that  in  inexhaustible  quantities.  These  coal  beds  are  con- 
nected with  the  coal  fields  of  Eastern  Utah,  but  it  is  only  here  that 
they  push  through  the  mountains  into  the  '  railroad  valleys,'  which 
lie  between  the  Wasatch  and  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Several  beds  of 
coal  here  crop  out  on  top  of  Cedar  Mountain  —  beds  which  vary  from 
five  to  eighteen  feet  in  thickness.  The  coal  is  of  cretaceous  age,  and 
equal  in  quality  to  any  of  the  Western  coals.  It  makes  a  fairly  good 
coke,  apparently  as  good  as  that  manufactured  at  Trinidad,  Colorado, 
and  so  extensively  used  for  metallurgical  purposes  in  that  State.  It 
is  fully  equal  to  the  coals  of  Central  and  Northern  Utah  ;  hence  it 
will  probably  furnish  a  fuel  adapted  for  smelting  and  manufacturing 
iron." 

Table  showing  shares,  capital,  and  aggregate  dividends  of  five  of 
the  most  valuable  mines  of  Utah,  Jan.  i,  1885,  with  time  last  dividend 
was  paid :  — 


NAME  OP    MINE. 

SHARES. 

CAPITAL. 

DIVIDENDS. 

LAST  DIVIDEND. 

Ontario  Mining  Company   .  . 

I5O,OOO 
I.4.OO 

$15,000,000 
4.OO.OOO 

$26,050,000 
4,000,000 

Dec.    31,   1884 
Nov.   15,   1884 

Stormont  Silver,  etc  

2OO,OOO 

2OO  OOO 

ICC.OOO 

Nov.      i,  1881 

Crescent  Mining  Company  .  . 
Christy  Mining  Company    .  . 

600,000 
6O,OOO 

6,000,000 

150,000 
90,000 

Oct.    25,   1883 
Feb.      9,  1883 

MARVELS  OF  MINING.  509 


WYOMING. 

E.  J.  Farmer  says  of  the  "wonderful  crystallizations"  of  this 
Territory  :  - 

"  At  Rawlins,  red  oxide  iron  ore  is  pulverized  for  paint ;  while  at 
Cheyenne,  there  are  carriage  and  wagon  shops,  as  well  as  manufac- 
tories of  jewelry  from  the  precious  stones  which  are  found  here  in 
many  localities.  The  Territory  is  a  rich  field  for  scientists,  having 
wonderful  petrifications,  fossils,  and  rare  crystallizations.  The  agates, 
opals,  topaz,  jasper,  and  chalcedony  from  Sweetwater  County  are 
exceedingly  beautiful.  The  most  magnificent  crystallization  at  the 
Denver  Exposition,  in  1882,  was  a  portion  of  a  fossil  tree  from  Uintah 
County.  The  bark  seemed  to  have  been  agatized  first,  and  after  the 
softer  parts  of  the  wood  had  decayed,  crystals  formed  on  the  inner 
surface  for  a  depth  of  two  inches,  leaving  a  hollow  tube  eight  inches 
in  diameter  and  fifteen  inches  in  length.  These  crystals  sparkled 
like  diamonds,  and  were  the  admiration  of  all  beholders." 

The  gold  and  silver  mining  of  Wyoming  is  of  little  account  com- 
pared with  that  of  Colorado,  California,  or  Utah ;  and  yet  it  is  carried 
on  profitably  in  some  portions  of  the  Territory,  and  promises  to 
become  an  important  factor  in  the  future  development  of  the  country. 

Extensive  mines  of  copper,  as  well  as  of  coal,  have  been  opened  in 
the  Territory,  promising  to  add  largely  to  its  wealth  in  the  near 
future.  The  editor  of  the  Cheyenne  Leader  says  of  the  Village  Belle 
copper  mine :  — 

"  It  is  astonishing  to  see  the  large  amount  of  native  copper  found 
in  this  mine.  I  picked  up  a  number  of  specimens  containing  globules 
of  pure  copper,  and  last  evening  the  miners  brought  to  the  store  a 
bag  full  of  specimens  containing  pure  copper  in  large  quantities,  each 
globule  varying  in  size  from  a  pin-head  to  a  buck-shot.  The  men 
had  just  gotten  down  to  a  pure  copper  streak  late  in  the  afternoon. 
Everybody  in  the  camp  and  out  of  the  camp  is  talking  of  the  Village 
Belle,  and  if  the  claim  were  a  veritable  belle  of  the  village,  she  would 
be  flattered  beyond  measure  by  the  praise  bestowed  upon  her. 

"  Several  openings  have  been  made  in  the  hill  at  different  points,  in 
all  of  which  good  copper  ore  is  exposed,  which  lecids  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  whole  hill  is  an  immense  bed  of  copper.  The  first  vein  or 
ore  body  struck  was  over  twelve  feet  in  sight.  The  ore  is  a  varie- 
gated dark  brown  and  green  silicate,  and  runs  from  thirty-three  and 
one-third  to  fifty  per  cent  copper.  The  openings  before  reaching 


510  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  ledge  are  made  through  a  deposit  of  red  hematite  iron.  This 
magnificent  property  cannot  be  equalled  in  any  copper  camp." 

And  this  is  only  one  copper  mine  of  many  recently  discovered ! 

Mr.  Farmer  says  of  the  Wyoming  coal  fields  :  — 

"  They  occupy  a  belt  fifty  to  one  hundred  miles  wide  across  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Territory,  and  are  found  in  the  region  of  the 
Big  Horn  and  Powder  rivers,  east  of  the  Wind  River,  and  both  east 
and  west  of  the  Laramie  range.  At  Cooper  Lake,  in  the  Laramie 
Plains,  a  vein  has  been  discovered  which  is  fifteen  feet  thick,  and 
one  at  Carbon  ten  feet.  The  veins  vary  in  thickness  from  four  to 
forty  feet ;  while  at  Carter  Station,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  in 
Uintah  County,  these  coal  seams  are  estimated  to  measure  four  hun- 
dred feet  in  thickness,  with  sandstone  strata  between  them." 

His  description  of  the  remarkable  soda  deposits  in  the  Territory 
will  be  read  with  surprise  as  well  as  profit,  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  soda  deposits  of  Wyoming  are  certainly  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  world.  Twelve  miles  southwest  of  Laramie  City  there  are  a 
number  of  lakelets  of  solidified  soda.  The  largest  of  these  covers  an 
area  of  fifty-six  acres,  and  the  deposits  vary  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
in  thickness  in  the  deeper  portions.  From  these  lakelets  a  cube  of 
two  hundred  cubic  feet,  of  solid  crystalline  sulphate  of  soda,  was 
exhibited  at  the  Centennial  Exposition,  which  gave  the  following 
analysis  :  '  Soda,  19.4  per  cent ;  sulphuric  acid,  24.8  per  cent,  equal 
to  44.2  per  cent  of  sulphate  of  soda;  water  of  crystallization,  55.8 
per  cent.'  Colonel  Downey,  of  Wyoming,  thus  describes  these  lake- 
lets :  '  The  deposit  whence  the  sample  mentioned  was  taken  covers 
an  area  of  more  than  one  hundred  acres ;  being  a  solid  bed  of  crys- 
tallized sulphate  of  soda  nine  feet  thick.  The  deposit  is  supplied 
from  the  bottom  by  springs,  whose  water  holds  the  salts  in  solution. 
The  water,  rising  to  the  surface,  rapidly  evaporates  ;  and  the  salts 
with  which  it  is  impregnated  readily  crystallize  in  the  form  men- 
tioned. Upon  removing  any  of  the  material,  the  water,  rising  from 
the  bottom,  fills  the  excavation  made  ;  and  the  salts,  crystallizing, 
replace  in  a  few  days  the  material  removed.  Hence  the  deposit  is 
practically  inexhaustible ;  and  it  now  contains  about  fifty  million  cubic 
feet  of  chemically  pure  crystallized  sulphate  of  soda,  ready  to  be 
utilized.'  Near  Independence  Rock,  seventy-five  miles  north  of  Raw- 
lins,  in  the  valley  of  the  Sweetwater,  are  deposits  of  bi-carbonate  of 
soda.  Here  are  about  one  hundred  lakelets,  covering  an  area  of 
three  hundred  acres,  making  a  deposit  one  mile  in  length,  by  half  a 
mile  in  breadth.  Part  of  these  are  solid  soda,  and  part  are  filled  with 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  511 

strong  alkaline  water.  In  one  of  these  lakelets  of  solidified  soda, 
borings  have  been  made  to  the  depth  of  forty  feet  without  passing 
beyond  the  soda  formation.  When  we  consider  that  the  consump- 
tion of  soda  in  the  United  States  amounts  to  two  hundred  fifty  mil- 
lions of  pounds  per  annum,  —  all  of  which  is  imported  at  a  cost  of 
$47  per  ton,  with  20  per  cent  ad  valorem  duty,  making  the  cost 
$56.40  per  ton, — it  would  seem  as  though  Wyoming  furnished  a 
wonderful  opportunity  for  both  capital  and  enterprise  in  the  soda 
business.  At  Rich  Creek,  near  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  there  is 
reported  to  be  a  deposit  of  sulphate  of  magnesia,  in  nearly  a  pure 
state,  covering  one  hundred  acres  to  the  depth  of  several  inches. 
Gypsum,  of  fine  quality,  is  found  in  many  localities  ;  notably  in  the 
Wind  River  Valley,  on  Horseshoe  Creek,  and  near  Red  Buttes. 
Kaolin,  or  porcelain  clay,  has  been  discovered  in  Albany  county ; 
and  mica  at  both  Diamond  Peak  and  in  the  Laramie  Mountains, 
thirty  miles  northwest  of  Fort  Laramie.  Sandstone,  marble,  lime- 
stone, and  clay  for  brick,  are  abundant." 

Another  writes  :  "  Wonderful  stories  are  told  of  the  natural  wealth 
of  Wyoming  Territory.  There  is  said  to  be  a  mountain  of  solid  hema- 
tite iron  in  the  heart  of  the  Territory,  with  six  hundred  feet  of  it 
above  ground,  more  than  a  mile  wide,  and  over  two  miles  in  length ; 
a  bed  of  lignite  coal  big  enough  to  light  the  world  for  centuries ; 
eight  lakes  of  solid  soda,  one  of  them  over  six  hundred  acres  in  extent 
and  not  less  than  thirty  feet  in  depth  ;  and  a  petroleum  basin  which 
contains  more  oil  than  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  combined, 
from  which  in  places  the  oil  is  oozing  in  natural  wells  at  the  rate  of 
two  barrels  a  day."  Also,  "  an  extensive  deposit  of  rubidium,  a  rare 
metal  worth  $5000  a  pound,  has  been  discovered  near  Rock  Creek, 
in  this  Territory." 

OREGON   AND  WASHINGTON. 

The  settlement  of  this  portion  of  the  New  Northwest  commenced 
so  much  earlier  than  that  of  the  States  and  Territories  considered, 
that,  strictly  speaking,  they  might  not  be  embraced  in  the  New  West. 
But  geographically  they  belong  here ;  and,  also,  their  claim  to  be 
considered  in  this  connection  cannot  be  denied,  because  of  gold  and 
silver  mining  within  their  domains. 

The  director  of  the  United  States  mint  gives  the  product  of  Oregon 
in  1883  and  1884  as  follows  :  — 


512 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


,                 1883. 

1884. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

TOTALS. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

TOTALS. 

Baker    .  . 

$I9O,OOO 

$5,000 

$195,000 

$160,000 

$2,500 

$162,500 

Benton  .  . 

5,000 

5,000 

5,000 

5,000 

Coos  .  .  . 

5,000 

5,000 

20,000 

20,000 

Curry  .  .  . 

20,000 

2OO 

20,000 

20,000 

2OO 

20,000 

Grant    .  . 

240,000 

25,000 

265,000 

200,000 

15,000 

215,000 

Jackson   . 

135,000 

2,000 

137,000 

100,000 

1,000 

101,000 

Josephine 

175,000 

2,000 

177,000 

110,000 

1,000 

111,000 

Union    .  . 

60,000 

800 

60,800 

45,000 

300 

45.300 

Totals   .  . 

$830,000 

$35,000 

$865,000 

$660,000 

$20,000 

$680,000 

He  estimates  the  production  of  Washington  Territory  for  the  same 
year:  Gold,  $85,000;  silver,  $1000;  total,  $86,000;  with  the  addi- 
tional encouragement  of  increase  from  year  to  year. 


SUMMARY. 

The  production  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead  in  the  New  West, 
for  the  year  ending  Jan.  i,  1886,  appears  in  the  following  table  :  — 


STATES  AND  TERRI- 
TORIES. 

GOLD  DUST  AND 
BULLION 
BY    EXPRESS. 

GOLD  DUST  AND 
BULLION 
BY   OTHER   CON- 
VEYANCES. 

SILVER  BULLION 
BY    EXPRESS. 

ORES  AND   BASE 
BULLION 
BY    FREIGHT. 

TOTALS. 

California  .  .  . 

$11,750,490 

#587,524 

$1,608,500 

$1,090,158 

$15,036,672 

Nevada  .... 

1.253,355 

6,575,430 

1,384,336 

9,213,121 

Oregon    .... 

396,937 

198,468 

12,000 

607,405 

Washington  .  . 
Idaho 

72,700 

36,350 
200  ooo 

867  4IO 

2  4^0  OOO 

109,050 

A   A21  7C6 

Montana    .  .  . 
Utah    

2,091,000 
17    -162 

6,317.512 
•?  06  1  4.24. 

5,8l6,OOO 
1.81I.Q4.8 

14,224,512 
8.026.7^4. 

Colorado    .  .  . 

2,653,000 

5,024,000 

13,695,000 

21,372,000 

New  Mexico    . 

226,519 

60,000 

I,IO7,627 

2,431,617 

3,825,763 

Arizona  .... 

726,426 

1  20,000 

2,752,068 

2,996,652 

6,595,146 

Dakota   .... 

2,506,623 

100,000 

I20,OOO 

2,726,623 

Totals  

$22,6l6,358 

$1   1O2  ld.2 

$2O  1QQ  111 

$-?c  60?  71  1 

$87,060,382 

MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


513 


The  annual  products  of  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  gold  in  the  New 
West,  from  1870  to  1885,  are  as  follows  :  — 


YEAR. 

LEAD. 

COPPER. 

SILVER. 

GOLD. 

TOTALS. 

iSyO   

$  i  ,080  ooo 

$17  320  ooo 

$77  7?O  OOO 

$52  150  ooo 

iSyi  

2  IOO  OOO 

19  286  ooo 

74.  7o8  OOO 

r  c  78/1  OOO 

1872  .  , 

2,25O,OOO 

10  Q24.42Q 

78,177.70? 

6O  7CI  824 

IS?"? 

•?  4CO  OOO 

2  "7  ,187  7O2 

70  206  cc8 

7O  I  7O  860 

l87d  . 

3  800  ooo 

29  699  122 

38  466  488 

IS??  . 

c  IOO  OOO 

11  ft  1C  27O 

7O  068  I  CM 

1876  

C  O4.O  OOO 

7Q  2Q2  Q24. 

42  886  O7C 

87  210  8co 

l877  .  , 

c  08?  2C.O 

45  846  109 

AA  880  227 

a:  81  1  582 

1878   

7  4.C.2  OOO 

77  24.8  I  77 

77  C?6  O7O 

78  276  167 

1870 

A  i8c.  760 

77  O72  8C7 

71  47O  262 

72  688  888 

1880  

57,12  7QO 

$898000 

78  O77  OCC 

72  CCO  067 

1881  

6,361  9O2 

I.IOs.OOO 

4.2.087  61  7. 

7O  6^7  QCQ 

81  108  A74 

1882  

8008  155 

4  OCC  O77 

4.8  I  77  O7Q 

29  oil  318 

80  2O7  C4O 

1883. 

8  16"?  ceo 

c  68"?  0.2  1 

4.2  Q7C.  IOI 

27  816  640 

8/1  67O  212 

1884  

6,8  74.OQ  I 

6,086,252 

4.7,!:  20,021; 

2c.i87.s6? 

81  633  835 

1885  

8,?62.QQI 

7,878,076 

44.  Cl6  C.OQ 

26  707  7^6 

8?  711  782 

Total  

I  222  "?I4.l87 

The  following  lode  veins  yielded  the  sums  opposite  their  names 
during  the  specified  portion  of  1880:  — 

Richman  Consolidated,  for  eleven  months $2,449,642 

Standard,  for  eleven  months 1,545,854 

Ontario,  for  eleven  months 1,628,545 

Chrysolite,  for  nine  months,  representing  ore  sold.     Yield  much  greater  .     .     .  1,689,752 

Little  Chief    "              "                   "                 "                      "                "...  1,103,311 

Iron  Silver     "              "                  "                "                      "                "...  645,425 

Eureka  Consolidated,  ten  months  of  year 1,243,894 

Manhattan,  ten  months  of  year 739,400 

Northern  Belle,  ten  months  of  year 1,111,525 

Contention,  ten  months  of  year 867,686 

Consolidated  Virginia 1,588,620 

California 782,298 

Ophir 905,924 

Silver  King  (Arizona),  monthly 200,000 

Home  Stake  (Black  Hills),  a  new  mine,  total 840,000 

Placer  operations  embrace  millions  of  money  in  California,  Idaho, 
Colorado,  and  Arizona.     One  hundred  and  five  million  dollars  ($105,- 


5  H  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

000,000)  have  been  expended  on  hydraulic  processes  in  Placer  and 
Yuba  counties,  California,  and  it  is  estimated  that  five  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars  ($500,000,000)  will  be  taken  out  of  the  ground  in  the 
next  few  years. 

The  following  mines  have  the  sums  of  money  set  opposite  their 
names  respectively,  as  aggregate  dividends,  to  Jan.  i,  1880:  — 

Consolidated  Virginia $42,930,000 

Belcher 15,307,200 

Savage       . 4,460,000 

Yellow  Jacket 2,184,000 

Ophir 1,594,000 

Consolidated  Imperial 1,125,000 

Confidence 78,000 

Succor 22,800 

California 30,950,000 

Crown  and  Point .  11,688,000 

Gould  &  Curry 3,825,000 

Hale  &  Norcross 1,598,000 

Kentuck 1,252,000 

Sierra  Nevada 102,200 

Barney 57,000 

Total $125,342,900 

Will  the  mines  fail?  is  a  very  natural  inquiry,  to  which  many 
miners  even  would  answer  Yes.  Some  have  been  exhausted  ;  others 
have  not.  A  class  of  mines  will  become  exhausted  ;  another  class 
will  not.  The  best  authority  on  the  subject  says  :  — 

"  History  shows  that  wherever  a  true  fissure  vein  has  been  found 
it  has  never  been  worked  out.  Such  veins  have  been,  in  fact, 
worked  for  ages  without  any  perceptible  diminution  in  their  yield. 
Where  ores  have  decreased  in  value,  the  ore  bodies  have  increased 
in  size,  the  increase  of  one  compensating  for  the  loss  of  the  other. 
Some  have  even  increased  their  yield,  the  quality  of  the  ore  re- 
maining unchanged.  Others  have  been  found  to  deteriorate  from 
veins  of  silver  to  those  of  baser  metals." 


ADDITIONAL   FACTS  AND   STATISTICS. 

The  director  of  the  mint  at  Washington  furnishes  a  table  showing 
the  world's  production  of  gold  and  silver  for  1881,  1882,  and  1883. 
The  reader  can  readily  learn  from  it  the  place  which  the  United  States 
occupies  among  the  nations  as  a  producer  of  the  precious  metals. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


515 


X 
X 

IH 

SILVER. 

*-§£§%oOJJ!f;pJ3Np?§§§       »           8 

114,217,733 

etbeer. 
ith  former  annual  official  production  for  Austria  added, 
i,  Consular  Reports  for  May,  1884,  page  394. 
al  statement  for  1887. 
al  statement  for  1880. 
al  statement  for  1879. 
al  statement  for  1881. 

O     w     co           10    u")    O             W             O             ^"    ls«    O     co      •     co      *       •              • 

Q  \o"               cR   c£   of                     co                    o"   in 

^-                                 «                                                                                                                            M 

f/s.WTf'rN.'rfOOCOlOOIO^t'C^COrOO                °°                           M 
<n     ^f     t^     O"*     CO   \O      t^*     LO   ^O      ^     in     ^MdO^M        •      *t*       •        •    ^G        • 

tx 
pf 

J3       M       *         WS1*       ^         <T)       ^                                              l-x     #           M         W       00         <N            .            '            .            .         tl         . 

*HH_                        t^W                                            V               V      *        OO     w 
M"                                                                                                           * 

GOLD. 

2  §  &1  §  I5  ^  ^      ^     I1;§^§S,|I1>§ 

94,027,901 

°  &  ff  «  c                            « 

.Ococoootxootx          ON          QooPiONinPi'-iOPiin 

s^^^M"      •      •        i°              s1;?"- 

141.479 

si 

H 

SILVER. 

^  oo,   to  w    oV  CN  Cjj         oT         c?         ^frxO_co"o\**          10 
Q  \o                 c>  oo    M                       co                      t-t    10 

£ 

PI 

s 

I 

a  Estimated  by  Dr.  A.  Sc 
b  Official  for  Hungary,  w 
c  Report  of  Consul  Dalto 
d  Estimated  same  as  offic 
e  Estimated  same  as  offic 
f  Estimated  same  as  offic 
g  Estimated  same  as  offic 

.0000     c*x    O    oo     •-»     O     ON    co    0    "O     O    oo      t^*    O             ^J"                   ^t~    O^ 

^    \O       t>>     Of      CO     rf     rC     M"     IO    "^       rf     cf      O"    OO"      *£    00~       •       N*                 .      M       rf 

oo 
pf 

GOLD. 

B§ias1l>1<l     ^    1-  a  §  ^  §  II;!  £1 

98,699,588 

Q    pf    co  oo"                 M"                                          co                             M"    pf    M" 
co    PI     n 

*  Estimated  same  as  official  statement  for  1882. 
t  Official  for  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales,  with  estimated  production  of  the  other 
provinces. 
t  The  mean  of  the  official  production  for  1880  and  1882. 
§  Amount  parted  from  deposits  at  the  Sydney  and  Melbourne  mints. 
||  Coinage  and  export. 
11  Estimated  same  as  official  statement  for  1880. 

^  oo"    vn    co   w"          M"           !   "^      !         "^x.  in   ^o         M"  **x.   co    co   «"     1 

O 
in 

»H 

S 

H 

SILVER. 

c    oo     co    o    *t~   o    *n    tx    ON    o    *-.    in    o    o    tx          o                tn 

102,168,354 

J3Q     P*     ^in»-i     cooo     o^tx  vo"    MPQOM      [NO             "o° 
Q    co                 tx    tx    M"                       co                 w"    H,"    in 

.    *l"ONtx,Hic^intx,McoOMOinix.tx,          -i-                 •*}- 

p) 
pi 
co 
oo" 

;^co         +H-NOOOCO                       tx          H    CI    <C    n      •   .n      •      i            • 

•*       O_                                NO         «                                                             Vl                    <x^     X\^       pi         M                    S^ 

GOLD. 

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103,023,078 

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MAR V 'ELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  director,  also,  supplies  the  following  instructive  table  with 
remarks  :  — 

"  After  carefully  comparing  the  returns  and  information  obtained 
as  to  the  yield  of  individual  mines,  the  amount  and  value  of  bullion 
shipped  at  railroad  stations  and  express  offices  in  the  mining  regions, 
the  reports  from  the  mints  and  assay  offices,  from  correspondents 
and  from  smelters  and  refiners  and  dealers  in  bullion,  I  estimate  that 
the  mines  of  each  State  and  Territory  added,  during  the  calendar 
year  1884,  to  the  world's  stock  of  gold  and  silver  at  their  coinage 
value  as  follows  :  — 


STATES   OR  TERRITORIES. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

TOTALS. 

Alaska  

$200,000 

$200  ooo 

Arizona  .         .         

Q  30.000 

$4,5OO,OOO 

C  AT,O  OOO 

California          

1  3,600,000 

3,OOO,OOO 

16  600  ooo 

4.,2co.ooo 

1  6,OOO,OOO 

20  250  ooo 

Dakota           

3.  300.000 

150  ooo 

-5  4.  CO  OOO 

Georgia                       

137  OOO 

137  ooo 

Idaho     .  .            

1,250  ooo 

2,720  ooo 

3  970  ooo 

Montana      •       

2,  1  70  OOO 

7,000  ooo 

9  170  ooo 

3  500  ooo 

5  600  ooo 

9  loo  ooo 

New  Mexico      

300  ooo 

3  ooo  ooo 

•j  •JCXD  ooo 

North  Carolina          

I  C7  OOO 

3  coo 

1  60  500 

660  ooo 

20  ooo 

680  ooo 

67  OOO 

coo 

C.7  COO 

Utah    

120,000 

6,800,000 

6,920,000 

Virginia  

2,000 

2,000 

\Vashington       

8c,.ooo 

I,  OOO 

86,000 

6,000 

6,000 

Alabama,  Tennessee,  etc  

76,000 

5,000 

81,000 

Totals        

$30,800,000 

$48,800,000 

$79,600,000 

From  the  "  Resources  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  by  E.  J.  Farmer, 
we  copy  below  some  statistical  tables  and  facts,  adding  thereto  the 
production  of  the  last  few  years  to  bring  the  report  down  to  the 
present  time  :  — 

Gold  and  Silver  —  World11!  Production  and  Supply. 

Gold.  Silver. 

Stock  in  1492 $500,000,000  $400,000,000 

Production  1492  to  1848 3,200,000,000  7,000,000,000 

Stock  in  1848 $3,700,000,000  $7,400,000,000 


MARVELS  OF  MINING. 


517 


Yearly  Production  since  1848. 

Gold.  Silver. 

1849 $61,500,000  539,ooo,ooo 

1850 70,500,000  39,000,000 

1851 81,500,000  40,000,000 

1852 132,750,000  40,600,000 

1853 155,450,000  40,600,000 

1854 127,450,000  40,600,000 

1855 135,070,000  40,600,000 

1856 147,600,000  40,650,000 

1857 133,275,000  40,650,000 

1858 124,650,000  40,650,000 

1859 124,850,000  40,750,000 

1860 119,250,000  40,800,000 

1861 113,800,000  42,700,000 

1862 107,750,000  45,200,000 

1863 106,950,000  49,200,000 

1864 113,000,000  51,700,000 

1865 120,200,000  51,950,000 

1866 121,100,000  50,725,000 

1867 114,025,000  54,225,000 

1868 109,725,000  50,225,000 

1869 106,225,000  47,500,000 

1870 106,850,000  51,575,000 

1871 107,000,000  61,050,000 

1872 99,550,000  65,250,000 

1873 96,200,000  89,250,000 

1874 90,750,000  71,500,000 

1875 97>5°°,ooo  80,500,000 

1876 95,000,000  74,000,000 

1877 97,000,000  81,000,000 

1878 86,500,000  73,500,000 

1879 105,400,000  81,037,500 

1880 94,800,000  72,125,000 

1881 110,000,000  94,000,000 

Totals $3,613,175,000     $1,833,112,000 

Summary. 

Gold.  Silver. 

Stock  in  1492 $500,000,000  $400,000,000 

Production  1492  to  1848 3,200,000,000  7,000,000,000 

Production  1849  to  1881 3,613,175,000  1,833,112,000 

Totals $7,313,175,000     $9,233,112,000 


An  estimate  of  the  aggregate  production  of  the  precious  metals 
in  all  countries,  from  1493  to  1881,  inclusive,  is  as  follows  :  — 


Si8 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


NATIONS. 

GOLD. 

SILVER. 

TOTALS. 

Germany     

$403  ooo  ooo 

$403,000,000 

Austria-Hungary    

$339  ooo  ooo 

398  ooo  ooo 

7  34..OOO  OOO 

Africa    

750  ooo  ooo 

7COOOO  OOO 

Chili   

195  ooo  ooo 

1  34,000  ooo 

329  ooo  ooo 

Brazil  

765  ooo  ooo 

765  ooo  ooo 

New  Granada  

894  ooo  ooo 

894  ooo  ooo 

Australia  

1,500  ooo  ooo 

1,500  ooo  ooo 

Peru   

IOO  OOO  OOO 

1,565,000  ooo 

1,665  ooo  ooo 

Potosi  (Bolivia)  

2  1  6,OOO  OOO 

i  869,000  ooo 

2,085  oo°  o°° 

Russia  

875,000  ooo 

125,000,000 

I,  OOO  OOO  OOO 

Mexico  

195  ooo  ooo 

3  300  ooo  ooo 

3  495  ooo  ooo 

United  States  

i  630  ooo  ooo 

570  ooo  ooo 

2  2OO  OOO  OOO 

Other  countries    .         .  .            .  . 

IOO  OOO  OOO 

350  ooo  ooo 

450  ooo  ooo 

Grand  total  

$16,263,000  ooo 

To  the  above  one  billion  dollars  more  must  be  added  to  show  the 
grand  total  to  January,  1886,  one-half  of  which  should  be  credited  to 
the  United  States.  The  aggregate  reaches  above  seventeen  billion 
dollars. 

It  is  upon  True  Fissure  veins  that  the  great  bonanza  mines  of  the 
world  have  been  located.  Their  names  and  productions  are  as 
follows  :  — 


Bissenna  Silver  Mine 
Santa  Anna      " 
Valaneta  " 

Parmillian  " 
Veta  Madre  " 
Comstock  " 
Rio  Grande  " 
Sierra  Madre  " 
Potosi  " 


$16,311,000 
21,347,000 
31,813,000 
70,000,000 

335.935.000 
365,000,000 
650,000,000 
800,000,000 
i  ,000,000,000 


The  world's  annual  production  of  gold  and  silver,  of  which  the  United 

States  produces  fully  one-half,  is  at  present $200,000,000 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years,  India  has  taken  an  average  of  $38,000,000, 
and  China  $9,000,000,  making  the  average  yearly  absorption  of  silver  by 
these  nations 47,000,000 

In  the  arts,  the  United  States  is  using  in  gold  and  silver  $15,000,000  yearly, 

and  the  rest  of  the  world  fully  $35,000,000  more,  making  in  all  per  annum  50,000,000 

Counting  loss  and  abrasion 3,000,000 


We  have  left  for  the  purposes  of  coinage  for  the  entire  world  only 


$100,000,000 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  519 

The  report  of  J.  Ross  Browne  on  the  "  Mineral  Resources  of  the 
United  States  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  has  the  following, 
which  we  copy  that  the  reader  may  contrast  twenty  years  ago  with 
now  :  — 

"  From  the  best  information  available,  the  following  is  a  near  ap- 
proximation to  the  total  gold  and  silver  product  for  the  year  ending 
Jan.  i,  1867  :  — 


California $25,000,000 

Nevada 20,000,000 

Montana 12,000,000 

Idaho 6,500,000 

Washington 1,000,000 


Oregon $2,000,000 

Colorado 2,500,000 

New  Mexico 500,000 

Arizona 500,000 

Total $70,000,000 


"  Add  for  bullion  derived  from  unknown  sources  within  our  States 
and  Territories,  unaccounted  for  by  assessors  and  express  companies, 
etc.,  $5,000,000. 

"  Total  product  of  the  United  States,  $75,000,000. 

"The  bullion  product  of  Washington  is  estimated  by  the  surveyor- 
general  at  $1,500,000.  That  of  Oregon  is  rated  as  high  as  $2,500,- 
ooo.  Intelligent  residents  of  Idaho  and  Montana  represent  that  the 
figures  given  in  the  above  estimate,  so  far  as  these  Territories  are 
concerned,  are  entirely  too  low,  and  might  be  doubled  without  exceed- 
ing the  truth.  The  product  of  Idaho  alone  for  this  year  is  said  to  be 
from  $15,000,000  to  $18,000,000.  That  of  Montana  is  estimated  by 
the  surveyor-general  at  $20,000,000.  Similar  exceptions  are  taken 
to  the  estimates  of  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  As  I  have 
no  grounds  for  accepting  these  statements  beyond  the  assertion  that 
most  of  the  bullion  is  carried  away  in  the  pockets  of  the  miners,  I 
am  inclined  to  rely  upon  the  returns  of  the  assessors,  express  com- 
panies, and  official  tables  of  experts.  Admitting  that  a  fraction  over 
seven  per  cent  may  have  escaped  notice,  although  reasonable  allow- 
ance is  made  for  this  in  the  estimate  of  $70,000,000,  and  that  a  con- 
siderable sum  may  be  derived  from  sources  not  enumerated,  I  feel 
confident  the  allowance  of  $5,000,000  is  sufficient  to  cover  the  entire 
bullion  product  of  the  United  States  for  the  year  1867  ;  thus  making 
the  aggregate  from  all  sources  $75,000,000,  as  stated  in  the  report  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

"  I  have  endeavored  to  obtain  returns  of  the  annual  product  of 
each  State  and  Territory  since  1848;  but,  for  the  reasons  already 
stated,  and  in  the  absence  of  reliable  statistics,  it  has  been  impossi- 
ble to  make  the  necessary  division  with  more  than  approximate  accu- 


520  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

racy.     As  nearly  as  I  can  judge  from  the  imperfect  returns  available, 
the  following,  in  round  numbers,  is  not  far  from  the  total  product :  — 

California $900,000,000 

Nevada 90,000,000 

Montana 65,000,000 

Idaho 45,000,000 

Washington 10,000,000 

Oregon 20,000,000 

Colorado 25,000,000 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona 5,000,000 

In  jewelry,  plate,  spoons,  etc.,  and  retained  for  circulation  on  Pacific  coast     .  45,000,600 

Total $1,205,000,000 

"Add  for  amounts  buried  or  concealed,  and  amounts  from  un- 
enumerated  sources,  and  of  which  no  account  may  have  been  taken, 
$50,000,000,  and  we  have  $1,255,000,000. 

"This  statement  re'quires  explanation.  Up  to  1855  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  the  gold  taken  from  California  was  not  manifested.1 
In  1849  tne  actual  yield  was  probably  $10,000,000  ;  in  1850,  $35,000,- 
ooo;  in  1851,  $46,000,000;  in  1852,  $50,000,000;  in  1853,  $60,000,- 
ooo;  and  in  1854,  $53,000,000." 

"  Have  precious  gems  been  found  in  the  New  West  ?  "  it  is  asked. 
Yes  ;  opals,  topaz,  amethyst,  agates,  jasper,  onyx,  garnets,  carnelian, 
chalcedony,  jet,  sapphires,  malachite,  azurite,  tourmaline,  beryl,  crys- 
tal, sardonyx,  and  diamonds,  —  all  these  are  found  in  the  New  West, 
though  not  in  that  profusion,  of  course,  for  which  they  are  known  in 
the  Orient. 

MORALS   OF   MINING   CAMPS. 

Roughs  became  a  prominent  factor  in  the  early  history  of  most 
mining  camps.  But,  in  self-defence,  the  moral  and  reliable  citizens 
soon  weeded  them  out.  Mining  camps  that  have  outgrown  their 
swaddling-clothes  will  show  a  large  per  cent  of  intelligent,  honest, 
enterprising,  and  virtuous  citizens.  Twenty  years  ago,  when  mining 
in  the  New  West  was  in  its  infancy,  Bayard  Taylor  visited  many  min- 
ing camps  of  Colorado,  and,  in  a  volume  which  he  published  subse- 
quently, he  said:  — 

"The  degree  of  refinement  which  I  have  found  in  the  remote 
mining  districts  of  Colorado  has  been  a  great  surprise.  California, 

1  Large  amounts  were  buried  by  miners  to  conceal  it,  and  many  of  these  miners  died,  so 
that  their  concealed  treasures  are  buried  still,  except  in  a  few  instances  where  they  have 
been  accidentally  unearthed. 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  521 

after  ten  years  settlement,  retained  a  proportion  of  the  rough,  origi- 
nal mining  element ;  but  Montana  has  acted  as  a  social  strainer  to 
Colorado ;  or,  rather,  as  a  miner's  pan,  shaking  out  a  vast  deal  of 
dirt  and  leaving  the  gold  behind.  Mr.  Leonhardy  and  his  neighbors 
live  in  rude  cabins,  but  they  do  not  therefore  relinquish  the  graces  of 
life.  It  is  only  the  half  cultivated  who,  under  such  circumstances, 
relapse  towards  barbarism.  Mountain  life  soon  rubs  off  the  veneer- 
ing, and  we  know  of  what  wood  men  are  made." 

We  think  that  Charles  H.  Shinn,  author  of  "  Mining  Camps,"  puts 
the  matter  clearly  in  the  following  paragraph  :  — 

"As  we  have  seen,  there  were  times  in  almost  every  camp  when 
the  rowdy  element  came  near  ruling,  and  only  the  powerful  and 
hereditary  organizing  instincts  of  the  Americans  present  ever  brought 
order  out  of  chaos.  In  nearly  every  such  crisis,  there  were  men  of 
the  right  stamp  at  hand,  to  say  the  brave  word,  or  do  the  brave  act ; 
to  appeal  to  Saxon  love  of  fair  play ;  to  seize  the  murderer,  or  defy 
the  mob.  Side  by  side  in  the  same  gulch,  working  in  claims  of  eight 
paces  square,  were,  perhaps,  fishermen  from  Cape  Ann,  loggers  from 
Penobscot,  farmers  from  the  Genesee  Valley,  physicians  from  the 
prairies  of  Iowa,  lawyers  from  Maryland  and  Louisiana,  college  grad- 
uates from  Yale,  Harvard,  and  the  University  of  Virginia.  From  so 
variously  mingled  elements,  came  that  terribly  exacting  mining-camp 
society,  which  tested  with  pitiless  and  unerring  tests  each  man's 
individual  manhood,  discovering  his  intrinsic  worth  or  weakness  with 
almost  superhuman  precision,  until  at  last  the  ablest  and  best  men 
became  leaders.  They  fought  their  way  to  the  surface  through  fierce 
oppositions,  and  with  unblenching  resolution  suppressed  crime,  and 
built  up  homes  in  the  region  they  had  learned  to  love." 

The  Anglo-Saxon  race  finally  asserts  itself  in  the  mining  camp,  to 
control  its  boisterous  elements,  as  it  does  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Shinn  eloquently  discusses  this  matter  in  another  and  grander 
phase,  thus  :  — 

"Though  every  mining  camp  perished  to-morrow,  the  impulse  that 
gave  them  birth  would  still  survive.  The  local  life,  strength,  and 
energy  of  the  early  camps  has  already  passed  as  a  powerful  force,  not 
as  a  name,  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  society.  .  .  . 

"  We  walk  the  streets  of  San  Francisco,  —  leaders  in  business  here, 
who  once  were  citizens  of  a  camp  and  swingers  of  picks  in  the  beds 
of.  mountain  torrents.  We  enter  the  political  field,  —  giants  of  debate 
and  caucus  here,  whose  first  efforts  to  control  their  fellow-men  were 
under  the  Mariposa  oaks,  or  beneath  the  dome  of  Shasta.  We 


522  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

traverse  the  pastoral  regions  of  the  West,  prairies  dotted  for  miles 
with  cattle,  herds  upon  a  thousand  hills,  —  sun-browned  patriarchal 
princes  here,  a  hundred  herdsmen  at  their  command,  five  hundred 
horses  in  their  manadas.  .  .  .  We  visit  the  prosperous  and  beautiful 
colonies  of  Southern  California,  fair  as  a  garden  of  the  Lord,  —  realms 
of  cherry  and  apple,  olive  and  orange,  grape  and  pomegranate,  fig  and 
guava,  loquat  and  passiflora,  fruits  and  flowers  of  two  broad  zones, 
mingled  in  rapturous  profusion  underneath  azure  skies  as  of  Capri 
and  Sicily,  —  and  here  also,  in  the  midst  of  colonists  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  is  some  man  of  pre-eminent  force  and  dignity  of  character, 
trained  in  the  school  of  the  early  mines,  transmuting  by  earth's  subtle 
alchemy  his  golden  nuggets  of  '49  to  yet  more  golden  apples  of  Hes- 
perides,  and  planting  golden-banded  lilies  of  Osaka  in  the  place  of 
golden  leaves  from  Proserpine's  subterranean  gardens.  We  may 
even  seek  the  great  cities,  whither  all  currents  flow,  —  New  York, 
London,  Paris,  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg, — the  marts  of  commerce,  the 
counting-houses  of  Barings  and  Rothschilds,  the.  courts  of  czar  and 
emperor,  the  wonderful  Broadways  of  many  a  metropolis,  flowing  like 
Amazonian  rivers  day  and  night  without  pause,  and  we  shall  find 
men  long  trained  in  the  lessons  of  the  mining  camps,  walking  as  calm 
conquerors  through  the  midst  of  this  world  of  tumult,  action,  and 
desperate  struggle,  ruling  railroad  systems,  laying  ocean  cables,  plan- 
ning for  isthmus  canals,  aiding  in  a  thousand  enterprises  that  require 
energy,  capital,  knowledge  of  men,  and  prestige  of  former  success,  yet 
faithful  in  heart,  cosmopolites  though  they  are,  to  the  memories  of 
their  young  manhood,  the  companions  of  their  Argonautic  quest,  the 
'  pards  '  of  their  pick-and-shovel  days  in  Sierra  or  Rocky.  Upon  facts 
like  these  rest  the  social  results  of  the  mining-camp  training." 

True,  corruption  abounds  in  mining  camps  ;  and  so  it  does  out- 
side. Vice  and  crime  revel  in  some  mining  communities  ;  so  they  do 
in  a  multitude  of  towns  and  cities  throughout  the  land.  Leadville, 
San  Francisco,  and  even  Virginia  City,  cannot  compete  with  New 
York,  Cincinnati,  and  Chicago,  in  the  martyrdom  of  virtue.  Neither 
ignorance  nor  immorality  offer  up  such  holocausts  of  human  happi- 
ness in  the  New  West  as  appall  the  East  and  South.  With  all  their 
vices,  the  character  of  mining  camps  averages  better  than  their  repu- 
tation. 


MINING   KINGS. 


524  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

MINING   KINGS. 
HORACE   A.   W.   TABOR. 

The  life  of  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  is  an  illustration  of  the  adage,  "  Prov- 
idence helps  those  who  help  themselves,"  as  well  as  of  the  following 
passage  from  Shakespeare  :  — 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune." 

He  was  born  in  Orleans  County,  Vermont,  Nov.  26,  1830.  In 
1855  he  emigrated  to  Kansas  and  engaged  in  farming.  As  an  active 
member  of  the  Free  Soil  party,  he  participated  in  the  decisive  scenes 
which  marked  the  period  during  the  dark  days  of  border  ruffianism. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Topeka  legislature  in  1857,  which  was  dis- 
persed by  Colonel  Sumner  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  by  order  of 
President  Pierce.  In  1859  ne  came  to  Colorado  and  went  at  once  to 
Clear  Creek  County,  spending  the  following  winter,  in  Denver.  He 
located  the  next  spring  in  California  Gulch,  where  he  was  exclusively 
engaged  in  mining  up  to  1865.  He  then  began  merchandising,  and 
followed  it  in  connection  with  mining  from  that  time  on  with  varied 
success  until  May  I,  1878.  At  that  time,  although  he  had  not  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring  great  wealth,  he  was  far  from  poor,  having  accu- 
mulated a  competency  of  some  $35,000. 

During  these  years  of  his  mercantile  life  in  California  Gulch,  he 
was  always  the  firm  friend  of  the  miner  and  prospector ;  and  it  is 
said  of  him  that  he  was  ever  ready  to  give  them  credit,  however  un- 
fortunate may  have  been  their  successive  ventures.  In  May,  1878, 
August  Rische  and  George  F.  Hook,  whom  he  had  "grub-staked," 
made  the  discovery  of  the  mine  which  has  since  become  famous  a"s 
the  "  Little  Pittsburg,"  he  being  entitled  by  the  agreement  to  one- 
third.  Mr.  Hook  soon  afterward  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  claim 
to  his  partners,  and  Mr.  Rische,  in  turn,  sold  out  to  the  Hon.  J.  B. 
Chaffee  and  D.  H.  Moffat,  Jr. 

In  1879  Mr.  Tabor  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  Little  Pittsburg 
for  $1,000,000,  Messrs.  Chaffee  and  Moffat  being  the  purchasers,  and 
then  purchased  about  one-half  of  the  stock  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  Denver,  at  the  same  time  purchasing  the  Matchless  mine  at 
Leadville.  He  also  owned  a  fourth  interest  in  the  mining  property, 
of  Borden,  Tabor  &  Co.,  comprising  five  or  six  mines  which  yielded 
$100,000  a  month.  Of  his  mining  property  in  the  San  Juan  country, 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  525 

we  mention  the  Alaska,  Adelphi,  Acapulco,  and  the  Victory  mines, 
situated  in  Poughkeepsie  Gulch,  in  all  of  which  he  is  interested, 
besides  which,  he  is  the  sole  owner  of  the  Red  Roger  and  the  Saxon. 
All  these  mines  are  in  an  advanced  stage  of  development.  He  has 
also  valuable  mining  property  in  Alpine.  Although  making  such 
extended  investments  in  mines,  with  the  result  of  inspiring  confi- 
dence in  the  mineral  resources  of  Colorado,  and  attracting  other  cap- 
italists to  the  new  State,  he  has  not  confined  his  attention  to  mining 
interests  alone,  but  has  employed  a  portion  of  his  wealth  in  perma- 
nent improvements  in  both  Leadville  and  Denver,  owning  in  the 
latter  city  alone,  about  $225,000  worth  of  real  estate.  During  the 
year  1880  he  completed  a  fine  brown-stone  front,  five-story  building, 
costing  about  $165,000,  on  the  corner  of  Sixteenth  and  Larimer 
streets,  the  ground  floor  being  devoted  to  elegant  stores,  the  First 
National  Bank  occupying  the  corner. 

In  Leadville,  in  addition  to  his  mining  property,  he  has  some 
$65,000  worth  of  real  estate.  His  fine  opera-house,  costing  about 
$35,000,  was  completed  in  sixty  days  from  the  letting  of  the  con- 
tracts. Senator  Tabor  was  for  a  long  time  a  director  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Denver,  and  also  vice-president  of  this  bank.  He 
held  the  office  of  county  treasurer  of  Lake  County,  and  was  mayor  of 
Leadville  during  the  first  fourteen  months  of  its  existence  as  a  city. 
He  was  also  president  of  the  Leadville  Improvement  Company,  to 
which  is  due  the  only  really  fine  street  in  Leadville,  —  Harrison  Av- 
enue, ninety  feet  wide,  —  which  this  company  laid  out  and  donated  to 
the  city.  He  was  also  president  of  the  Leadville  Gas  Company, 
which  was  organized  in  July,  1879,  and  on  the  ist  of  November  fol- 
lowing had  three  and  a  half  miles  of  mains  laid.  Senator  Tabor's 
decision  of  character,  quickness  of  perception  and  promptness  of 
action  mark  his  every  movement.  He  no  sooner  decides  than  he 
begins  to  act.  To  illustrate  :  The  transaction  before  alluded  to,  by 
which  he  closed  out  his  remaining  stock  in  the  Little  Pittsburg  Mining 
Company  for  $1,000,000,  bought  eight  hundred  and  eighty  shares  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Denver,  and  at  the  same  time  purchased 
the  Matchless  mine  at  Leadville  for  $117,000,  took  place  in  the  short 
space  of  fifteen  minutes. 

In  October,  1878,  he  was  elected  the  first  lieutenant-governor  of 
Colorado,  and  believing  no  man  should  accept  a  public  trust  without 
performing  its  labors  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  he  at  once  devoted  his 
attention  to  preparing  himself  for  parliamentary  duties,  and,  as  pres- 
ident of  the  senate,  acquitted  himself  with  great  honor,  and  proved 


526  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

one  of  the  best  parliamentarians  who  ever  occupied  the  position  of 
presiding  officer  over  that  body.  Governor  Tabor's  heavy  invest- 
ments in  Chicago  property  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole 
country,  and  produced  a  stimulating  effect  upon  the  real  estate  mar- 
ket of  that  city. 

The  grand-opera  house  building,  the  handsomest  in  America,  was 
erected  in  1882,  and  it  will  ever  remain  a  lasting  monument  to  Mr. 
Tabor's  enterprise,  public  spirit,  and  generosity.  His  election  to  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1883,  by  the  legislature  of  Colorado,  was  a 
fitting  testimonial  of  the  high  regard  entertained  for  him  by  his 
Colorado  admirers.  Although  for  a  limited  period,  it  was  none  the 
less  a  high  honor  of  which  any  man  might  feel  proud. 

Under  his  management  the  Matchless  mine  has  been  a  constant 
producer,  amounting  in  some  months  as  high  as  $80,000. 

His  investment  comprising  175,000  acres  of  copper  lands  in  the 
State  of  Texas,  promise  him  a  future  income  beyond  calculation. 
Another  investment  illustrating  his  sagacity  and  keen  business  judg- 
ment is  the  4,600,000  acres  of  cattle-grazing  lands  in  Southern  Colo- 
rado. In  addition,  Senator  Tabor  is  largely  interested  in  numerous 
mining  companies,  irrigating  canals,  mining  and  other  enterprises, 
giving  employment  to  hundreds  of  men,  and  aiding  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  vast  resources  of  our  New  West. 

His  concession  from  the  president  of  the  Republic  of  Honduras 
is  a  veritable  "Aladdin's  lamp"  opportunity.  It  comprises  every  al- 
ternate section  of  land,  for  four  hundred  miles,  bordering  upon  the  Pa- 
took  River.  Upon  this  land  are  immense  groves  of  mahogany,  ebony, 
and  other  valuable  woods  ;  banana  and  other  tropical  fruit  orchards  ; 
gold,  silver,  coal,  and  other  mineral  deposits.  In  addition  to  the  sec- 
tion grant,  he  has  a  mineral  grant  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  square 
miles  in  the  interior.  Mr.  Tabor  is  probably  the  largest  land-owner 
in  the  world. 

His  great  Tam  O'Shanter  group  of  mines  near  Aspen,  Colorado, 
the  famous  New  Mexico  mines,  the  wonderful  acres  of  mineral  depos- 
its, comprising  his  Old  Mexico  properties,  and  other  possessions, 
really  makes  it  too  exhaustive  to  even  enumerate. 


JOHN    L.    ROUTT. 

He  was  born  in  Eddyville,  Lyon  County,  Kentucky,  in  1826.  In 
1835,  when  John  was  ten  years  old,  his  parents  removed  to  Bloom- 
ington,  111.,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm  four  years.  There  was  not 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  $2? 

excitement  and  promise  enough  in  farm  life  to  a  boy  of  his  enterpris- 
ing spirit,  and  he  desired  another  vocation.  His  parents  were  in- 
clined to  favor  his  choice,  and,  after  canvassing  the  ntatter  quite 
thoroughly,  John  was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter.  Before  the  carpen- 
ter's trade  was  fully  learned,  however,  circumstances  seemed  to  favor 
a  change,  and  he  shifted  to  the  trade  of  a  machinist,  continuing  to  fol- 
low it  until  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age.  His  tact  in  trading,  with 
a  strong  inclination  in  that  direction,  led  him  about  that  time  into 
speculation  in  land  and  stocks.  His  ability  in  this  line  drew  atten- 
tion to  him,  and  he  became  the  first  collector  of  Bloomington  town- 
ship in  1858,  and  in  1860  was  made  sheriff  of  his  county.  The  war 
of  the  Rebellion  soon  broke  out,  and  he  became  a  soldier  in  the 
Union  army.  Here,  his  tact,  ability,  and  loyalty,  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  officers  under  whom  he  served,  and,  without  even  an 
application  on  his  part,  he  was  appointed  assistant  quartermaster, 
with  rank  of  captain.  He  proved  to  be  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place.  Important  trusts  were  committed  to  him,  and  he  discharged 
them  with  a  promptness  and  fidelity  that  won  the  confidence  of  his 
superior  officers.  His  accounts  with  the  government  were  kept  so 
accurately,  that,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  they  were  adjusted  without 
the  least  difficulty,  —  a  fact  that  could  not  be  stated  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  quartermasters  in  the  Union  army. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  returned  to  Bloomington,  and  soon 
after  was  elected  county  treasurer,  an  office  which  he  filled  very 
acceptably  four  years.  In  this  position  he  rendered  efficient  service 
in  settling  the  "bounty  cases,"  and  also  in  planning  and  building 
the  magnificent  court-house  in  Bloomington. 

In  1869  President  Grant  appointed  him  chief  clerk  in  the  bureau 
of  second  assistant  postmaster-general,  at  Washington,  in  which 
office  he  proved  himself  able  and  efficient,  until  the  President  ap- 
pointed him  United  States  marshal  for  the  southern  district  of  Illi- 
nois, in  1870.  Both  of  these  positions  were  offered  to  him  without 
any  solicitation  on  his  part.  Offices  came  to  him  unsought,  for  he 
was  in  no  sense  a  scheming  politician. 

He  had  acted  as  United  States  marshal  scarcely  a  year,  when  he 
received  the  appointment  by  telegram  from  Washington,  of  second 
assistant  postmaster-general.  His  efficiency  when  he  was  chief  clerk 
of  that  bureau  was  the  reason  of  this  appointment.  A  good  chief 
clerk  would  make  a  good  assistant  postmaster-general.  He  contin- 
ued in  this  office  until  1875,  when  the  President  appointed  him  Terri- 
torial governor  of  Colorado.  The  appointment  was  so  popular  at 


528  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Washington  that  Congress  determined  to  do  him  special  honor  by 
their  confirmation.  On  receipt  of  the  appointment,  the  Senate  went 
into  executive  session  immediately,  and,  in  eight  minutes  after  being 
called  to  order,  confirmed  his  nomination  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The 
same  ability  and  fidelity  which  had  characterized  him  in  other  posi- 
tions, made  him  successful  and  honored  as  Territorial  governor.  He 
won  the  public  confidence  so  largely,  that  one  year  later,  when  Col- 
orado became  a  State,  he  was  elected  its  first  governor.  Large- 
hearted,  public-spirited,  with  uncommon  practical  ability,  his  guber- 
natorial career  was  a  grand  success. 

On  retiring  from  public  life,  he  engaged  in  the  mining  business 
at  Leadville.  He  purchased  the  Morning  Star,  in  October,  1877,  for 
one  thousand  dollars.  Of  course  the  mine  was  not  a  promising  one  ; 
the  low  price  proves  that.  But  Routt  could  see  further  into  the 
ground  than  many  people,  and  he  had  strong  faith  in  his  purchase. 
He  pushed  the  development  of  his  mine,  sometimes  under  discourag- 
ing circumstances,  every  month  running  into  debt,  paying  eighteen 
per  cent  interest  for  borrowed  money.  The  resolute  man  kept  push- 
ing forward  for  about  two  years,  when  his  perseverance  and  foresight 
were  rewarded  by  discovering  the  richest  silver  mine  in  Colorado. 
Before  its  full  value  was  determined,  he  sold  two-fifths  of  the  mine  in 
order  to  pay  the  heavy  debt  under  which  he  was  staggering.  Soon 
afterwards  he  found  that  he  possessed  a  mine  which  tJiree  million  dol- 
lars ($3,000,000)  could  not  buy.  It  yielded  him  fifty  thousand  dollars 
($50,000)  per  month. 

Mr.  Routt  resides  in  Denver,  occupying  one  of  its  palatial  residen- 
ces, looking  after  his  mining  interests,  which  are  extensive  and  pro- 
lific, and  sharing  the  confidence  of  the  community  whose  welfare  he 
has  ever  sought  to  promote. 


JOHN    P.    JONES. 

John  P.  Jones  was  born  in  Herefordshire,  England,  in  1830,  being 
now  fifty-seven  years  of  age.  His  parents  were  upright  and  intelli- 
gent, as  well  as  enterprising  and  industrious.  His  father  hoped  to 
improve  his  material  condition  by  emigrating  to  the  United  States, 
and  he  came  to  this  country  before  John  was  a  year  old.  He  settled 
in  the  northern  part  of  Ohio,  where  he  purchased  government  lands, 
and  devoted  himself  to  farming.  John  began  to  labor  on  the  farm 
as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough,  and  was  an  energetic,  plucky  boy.  Be- 
fore he  was  twelve  years  old,  he  was  an  indispensable  aid  to  his 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  $29 

father,  his  filial  love  and  obedience  always  controlling  his  service. 
He  early  enjoyed  the  small  advantages  of  the  inferior  schools  of  that 
day  and  region,  improving  his  time  with  commendable  application. 
Soon  after  entering  upon  his  teens,  he  was  sent  to  school  at  Cleveland 
for  a  time.  His  stay  was  comparatively  short,  however,  as  the  purse 
of  his  father  was  not  sufficiently  ample  to  endure  a  heavy  strain  ;  and 
then  the  farm  demanded  his  labors. 

He  was  eighteen  years  old  when  gold  was  discovered  in  California  ; 
and  the  excitement  occasioned  thereby  throughout  the  country 
caught  him  up  in  its  whirlwind  sweep,  and  set  him  down  at  the 
"Golden  Gate."  His  parents  were  not  altogether,  in  favor  of  this 
great  change,  since  they  possessed  a  somewhat  just  estimate  of  the 
society  of  a  new  country,  and  especially  the  temptations  of  a  mining 
camp.  But  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  boy,  and  the  hope  that 
everything  would  turn  out  for  the  best,  secured  their  consent  finally ; 
and  so,  with  plenty  of  good  advice  and  a  small  capital,  he  hurried 
away  to  California,  where  he  began  both  farming  and  mining  in  one 
of  the  inland  counties.  That  he  was  successful  in  a  good  degree  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  he  won  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citi- 
zens as  to  character  and  ability.  They  committed  to  him  important 
trusts,  and  finally  elected  him  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  after- 
wards to  the  State  senate.  For  a  series  of  years  he  was  personally 
identified  with  public  interests,  at  the  same  time  accumulating  con- 
siderable property,  though  not  rich  according  to  the  California 
standard. 

When  public  attention  was  turned  to  the  silver  mines  of  Nevada, 
in  1867,  he  resolved  to  take  up  his  abode  in  that.  Territory  and  strike 
for  a  fortune.  Going  thither  he  found  almost  insurmountable  obsta- 
cles in  his  way,  not  the  least  of  which  were  the  depredations  of  the 
Apache  Indians.  But  his  courage  and  perseverance  served  him  a 
good  purpose,  and,  in  spite  of  savages  and  desperadoes,  he  pursued 
his  mining  operations  with  marked  success.  Wealth  poured  in  upon 
him,  not  only  by  thousands,  but  also  by  millions  ;  and  the  Ohio 
farmer  boy  soon  became  known  as  the  Nevada  millionnaire.  As 
"money  makes  the  mare  go"  in  the  New  West,  as  it  does  elsewhere, 
his  influence  and  popularity  increased  with  his  riches,  and  Nevadians 
soon  learned  to  submit  valuable  trusts  to  his  care.  Finally,  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  as  one  of  the  silver  kings  of 
silvery  Nevada.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  as  a  Republican,  on 
March  4,  1873.  He  has  been  twice  re-elected  to  that  position 
by  the  Republican  party  of  Nevada,  and  his  present  senatorial  term 


530  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

will  expire  on  March  3,  1891.  Should  he  live  to  complete  his  pres- 
ent term  of  service,  it  will  make  a  round  eighteen  years  of  senatorial 
life,  a  fact  that  proves  his  labors  in  this  public  capacity  to  have 
been  satisfactory  to  his  constituents. 


JAMES    GRAHAM    FAIR. 

James  G.  Fair  was  born  near  Belfast,  Ireland,  Dec.  3,  1831,  and 
is  therefore  one  year  the  junior  of  Senator  Jones.  His  parents 
came  to  this  country  in  1843,  when  James  was  twelve  years  old. 
They  settled  in  Illinois,  which  was  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization  at 
that  time.  A  purchase  of  government  land  secured  a  farm  of  ample 
dimensions  on  which  James  worked  with  his  father,  at  the  same  time 
attending  school  whenever  an  opportunity  offered.  The  school  privi- 
leges of  Illinois  were  very  limited  then,  but  such  as  they  were  he 
enjoyed,  and  finally  went  to  school  for  a  time  in  Chicago.  This  con- 
stituted all  the  schooling  he  ever  had. 

He  was  seized  with  the  gold  fever  in  1849,  an<^  ^  raged  for  months 
before  his  parents  consented  that  he  should  go  to  California.  Seeing 
no  prospect  of  curing  the  fever  by  any  remedies  known  to  them,  they 
yielded  to  his  importunities,  and  away  he  went  to  the  El  Dorado  that 
had  lured  his  soul.  He  engaged  in  mining  at  once ;  and  with  com- 
mendable industry  and  perseverance  was  tolerably  successful,  though 
he  by  no  means  realized  his  high  expectations.  He  maintained  his 
integrity,  however,  amidst  the  temptations  and  corruptions  of  the 
mining  camp,  and  never  so  much  as  abandoned  the  thought  of  mak- 
ing a  fortune  in  that  land  of  gold.  Thus  he  planned  and  labored 
until  1860,  when  he  concluded  that  Nevada  was  nearer  to  a  fortune 
for  him  than  California  was.  He  was  financially  prepared  to  engage 
in  business  in  that  Territory,  which  is  considerable  more  than  could 
be  said  of  many  who  emigrated  to  that  Apache-smitten  country.  He 
began  operations  at  once,  in  a  spirit  that  seemed  to  assure  success  at 
any  price  ;  and  his  operations  enlarged  rapidly  to  huge  dimensions. 
No  bonanza  worker  ever  constructed  larger  quartz-mills,  nor  built 
water-works  on  a  more  practicable  and  grander  scale.  He  was  now 
successful  even  beyond  his  anticipations.  His  income  increased  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  startle  himself.  He  got  more  than  he  bargained 
for.  His  riches  became  immense  speedily.  The  poor  Irish  boy 
became  a  mill  ion  nai  re  almost  before  he  dreamed  of  such  an  expe- 
rience. 

At  that  time  John  W.  Mackay,  James  C.   Flood,  and  William  S. 


MARVELS   OF  MINING.  531 

O'Brien,  were  successful  miners  in  California,  and  Fair  entered  into 
partnership  with  them.  This  union  made  a  remarkably  strong  firm 
financially,  and  they  "purchased  the  control  of  the  Bonanzas  and 
various  other  well-known  mines,"  in  Nevada,  which  turned  out  wealth 
to  fabulous  amounts.  Mr.  Fair  superintended  the  operations,  and  it 
is  claimed  that,  during  the  time  he  managed  the  business,  over  two 
hundred  million  dollars  were  taken  out  of  the  mines.  He  is  exten- 
sively engaged,  also,  in  the  manufactures  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in 
real  estate  and  building  in  San  Francisco.  He  is  not  now  a  member 
of  the  firm  spoken  of,  having  withdrawn  several  years  ago.  His 
wealth  is  estimated  at  twelve  millions.  He  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  took  his  seat  March  4,  1881.  His  term  of  service 
expired  March  3,  1887,  and  he  retired  to  private  life. 

JEROME  B.  CHAFFEE. 

The  life  of  Jerome  B.  Chaffee  was  identified  with  the  history  of 
Colorado.  He  was  born  in  Niagara  County,  State  of  New  York, 
April  17,  1825.  He  received  an  academic  education,  and  when 
quite  young  removed  to  Michigan.  Subsequently  he  removed  to  St. 
Joseph,  Mo.,  where  he  engaged  in  banking.  In  1857  he  organized 
the  Elmwpod  Town  Company,  in  Kansas,  and  became  secretary  and 
manager.  In  the  spring  of  1860  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Colorado 
for  the  purpose  of  mining.  He  located  in  what  is  now  Gilpin  County  ; 
and,  in  company  with  Eben  Smith,  erected  the  Smith  &  Chaffee 
Stamp  Mill. 

He  secured  the  consolidation  of  several  lodes,  known  since  as  the 
famous  "Bob-Tail  Lode  and  Tunnel,"  its  name  being  derived  from 
the  fact  that  a  bob-tailed  ox,  harnessed  to  a  drag,  was  used  for  hauling 
the  pay-dirt  to  the  gulch  for  sluicing.  In  1869  he  effected  another  and 
large  consolidation,  and  became  the  heaviest  stockowner  in  the  com- 
pany. This  company  became  known  as  the  most  prosperous  as  well  as 
most  extensive  mining  corporation  in  Colorado,  producing  annually 
from  $300,000  to  $500,000.  A  few  years  thereafter  Mr.  Chaffee 
owned  a  hundred  gold  and  silver  lodes  —  more  than  any  other  man 
in  Colorado  at  that  time.  Among  them  was  the  celebrated  Carabou 
Silver  Mine.  He  was  a  stockholder  also  in  the  celebrated  "  Little 
Pittsburg  Consolidated  Mining  Company." 

In  1865  Mr.  Chaffee  purchased  the  business  of  Clark  &  Co., 
bankers  in  Denver,  and  organized  the  First  National  Bank,  of  which 
he  became  president,  and  continued  in  that  office  until  1880.  Under 


532  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

his  management  this  bank  became  one  of-  the  most  reliable  and  popu- 
lar institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

His  political  career  began  in  1861,  when  he  was  sent  from  Gilpin 
County  to  the  first  Territorial  Legislature  as  a  Republican.  In  1863, 
he  was  returned  to  the  Legislature,  and  was  elected  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  In  1865  the  people  of  Colorado  organ- 
ized a  State  government  under  an  enabling  act  of  Congress,  and  Mr. 
Chaffee  was  elected  United  States  Senator. 

In  Congress,  he  was  very  industrious  and  influential,  securing  the 
passage  of  many  acts  of  great  benefit,  not  only  to  Colorado,  but  to 
other  States  as  well.  It  was  through  his  efforts  that  necessary  and 
beneficial  legislation  in  behalf  of  the  Indians  was  accomplished  at 
that  time. 

In  1876,  under  the  new  State  government,  he  was  elected  again 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  with  Hon.  H.  M.  Teller,  drawing  the 
short  term,  which  began  December,  1876,  and  expired  March  3,  1879. 
The  longer  he  continued  in  Congress,  the  more  valuable  his  public 
services  became.  During  his  short  term  in  the  United  States  Senate 
he  was  influential  in  securing  enactments  for  the  better  devejopment 
of  the  mining  interest  in  the  New  West,  improvement  in  the  methods 
of  managing  railroads,  together  with  several  other  matters  of  equal 
importance  to  the  country. 

Mr.  Chaffee  was  a  pronounced  Republican,  and  was  sent  as  dele- 
gate to  every  presidential  nominating  convention,  from  the  birth  of 
the  party  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1884.  He  was 
the  possessor  of  great  wealth,  and  used  it  freely  in  developing  the 
resources  and  promoting  the  interests  of  his  own  State,  whose  people 
cherish  his  memory  because  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  under  which  his 
public  acts  placed  them.  "Accustomed  to  enterprises  of  great  mag- 
nitude, he  was,  in  business,  distinguished  for  great  breadth  of  views, 
quickness  of  perception,  and  promptness  of  action,  which  enabled  him 
to  comprehend  almost  instantly  plans  of  the  greatest  moment,  and  at 
once  to  put  them  into  execution." 

NATHANIEL    P.    HILL. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Orange  County,  State  of 
New  York,  in  1832.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  more  intelligent  and 
enterprising  than  many  of  his  fraternity  in  that  locality ;  and  these 
qualities  gave  him  popularity  and  influence  in  town  and  county.  He 
served  the  State  as  a  member  of  the  General  Legislative  Assembly, 


MARVELS  OF  MINING.  533 

and  for  a  number  of  years  filled  the  office  of  county  judge  credita- 
bly. He  valued  culture,  and  sought  the  best  school  advantages  for 
his  children  that  the  times  and  place  afforded.  His  wife,  the  mother 
of  our  subject,  was  a  helpmate  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  fitted  by 
her  intelligence  and  solidity  of  character,  to  occupy  the  highest  seat 
of  honor  with  her  husband. 

Nathaniel  had  a  good  start,  of  course.  To  start  well  from  the 
fireside  is  a  good  start  indeed.  Many  fail  in  life  for  the  want  of  it. 
It  helped  him  to  succeed.  He  loved  books  and  school,  was  obedi- 
ent, willing  to  work,  enterprising  and  persistent,  just  the  boy  to  be 
thought  well  of  in  the  neighborhood.  Early  in  life  he  decided,  in  his 
own  mind,  to  obtain  a  liberal  education,  and  his  parents  favored  his 
ambition.  He  employed  his  evenings  and  leisure  hours  out  of  school 
in  intellectual  improvement.  His  plans  were  somewhat  interrupted, 
however,  by  the  d'sath  of  his  father,  when  Nathaniel  was  sixteen 
years  of  age.  From  that  time  the  management  of  the  farm  depended 
on  him,  a  responsibility  which  he  accepted  without  any  misgiving. 
While  taking  good  care  of  the  large  farm  with  its  onerous  burdens,  he 
studied  hard  every  evening  and  during  the  winter  seasons,  so  that  he 
was  well  fitted  for  college  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  entered 
Brown  University,  Providence,  R.I.,  where  he  distinguished  himself 
as  a  scholar.  Physical  science  was  his  favorite  study ;  and  having 
graduated  with  high  honors,  he  was  immediately  appointed  tutor  in 
the  chemical  department.  His  success  there  led  to  his  appointment 
as  professor  of  chemistry  in  1860,  in  which  capacity  he  taught  until 
1864.  That  year  he  was  sent  by  a  party  of  Boston  and  Providence 
capitalists  to  Colorado,  to  report  on  the  Beaubien  land  grant,  with  a 
view  to  a  purchase.  While  there,  his  attention  was  directed  to  the 
wasteful  methods  employed  to  save  the  precious  metals.  He  saw  at 
once  that  the  opportunity  for  great  improvement  in  the  method  of 
smelting  ores  was  before  him,  and  he  seized  it.  He  studied  the  sub- 
ject thoroughly,  visited  the  smelting  establishments  of  Europe,  and 
then,  having  secured  the  co-operation  of  abundant  capital,  he  organ- 
ized the  "  Boston  and  Colorado  Smelting  Company."  A  furnace  was 
erected  at  Black  Hank,  and  was  enlarged  from  year  to  year,  as  the 
business  rapidly  increased,  and  in  1878  the  works  were  removed  to 
Denver,  where  they  have  grown  into  the  enormous  "  Argo  Smelting 
Works,"  the  business  of  which,  from  its  start,  amounts  to  about  tJiirty- 
nine  million  dollars.  The  total  weight  of  gold  shipped  by  the  com- 
pany to  Jan.  i,  1886,  was  twenty  tons  of  gold  and  seven  hundred  and 
eighty  tons  of  silver. 


534  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

In  1879  Professor  Hill  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  wisdom  and  ability. 
His  influence  was  felt  in  almost  every  important  measure  before  the 
Senate,  and  his  record  was  unimpeachable  from  beginning  to  end. 

Although  Professor  Hill  does  not  represent  mining  ores  particu- 
larly, as  do  the  mining  kings  to  which  attention  has  already  been 
called,  nevertheless,  he  represents  a  most  important  branch  of  the 
industry,  which,  under  his  efficient  management,  has  served  to 
develop  the  mineral  resources  of  Colorado  rapidly,  successfully,  and 
wonderfully. 

J.   F.   MATTHEWS. 

J.  F.  Matthews  was  born  on  the  island  of  Cuba,  in  1847,  and  is 
now  just  forty  years  of  age.  His  father  was  a  sugar-dealer,  the  chief 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Matthews  &  Safford,  which  had  business  con- 
nections with  the  well-known  sugar-house  of  Moses  Taylor  in  New 
York.  At  the  age  of  eight  years  his  father  sent  him  to  school  in 
New  York  City.  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  entered  the  college  at 
Georgetown,  D.C.  After  three  years'  study  ill  health  forced  him  to 
leave  college,  and  he  returned  to  Cuba.  For  three  years  he  was  con- 
nected with  a  mercantile  house  in  that  island,  then  travelled  exten- 
sively in  Europe  for  pleasure  and  profit,  finally  accepting  a  clerkship 
in  Paris  with  a  large  South  American  house.  He  remained  three 
years  in  Paris,  then  returned  to  America,  settling  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  married  a  Miss  Patterson,  and  accumulated  some  property 
in  the  shipping  trade. 

In  1875  Mr.  Matthews  removed  to  Colorado,  and  entered  into  the 
business  of  ore  sampling  and  concentration,  at  Georgetown,  the  name 
of  the  firm  being  Matthews  &  Co.  In  1875  the  works  were  reduced 
to  ashes  by  a  disastrous  fire.  But  with  his  accustomed  pluck  and 
energy,  Mr.  M.  set  himself  to  work  at  once  to  retrieve  his  fortune, 
the  result  of  which  was  the  firm  of  Matthews  &  Webb,  "  Ore  and 
Bullion  Brokers,"  of  Denver.  The  amount  of  business  which  this 
company  do  may  be  learned  from  the  fact  that,  in  1886,  it  amounted 
to  three  million  dollars,  and  this  year  will  exceed  those  figures. 
Another  says:  "J.  F.  Matthews  is  a  gentleman  of  unusual  ability. 
He  has  built  up  the  great  business  just  noticed  from  a  very  small 
beginning,  having  won  the  good  will  and  confidence  of  every  one  by 
his  high  qualities  as  a  citizen,  and  his  perfect  fairness  and  rectitude 
as  a  business  man. 


V.     MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


THE  paradise  of  stock-raisers  lies  between  the  Missouri  River 
and  the  Pacific  coast.  The  New  West  is  the  kingdom  of 
"cattle-kings."  They  live  royally  in  this  empire  of  prairie  and 
valley.  They  spread  a  table  for  both  Americans  and  Englishmen. 
Ubiquitous  Yankees  exchange  courtesies  with  Brother  Jonathan 
under  the  shadow  of  the  snow-capped  Rockies.  All  the  cattle  of 
the  New  West,  gathered  into  one  imposing  "round  up,"  would 
convert  the  "  Great  American  Desert "  into  a  stockyard,  to  chal- 
lenge the  curiosity  of  the  world. 

The  statistician  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington 
reports  the  whole  number  of  farm  animals  in  the  United  States, 
February,  1887,  as  follows  :  — 


Horses 12,496,744 

Mules 2,117,141 

Milch  Cows 14,522,083 

Oxen  and  other  cattle      .     .     .  33,511,750 


Sheep 44,759,314 

Swine 44,612,896 


Total 152,019,928 


The  following  table  shows  what   number  of  the  sum  total  are 
found  in  the  New  West :  — 


LOCALITY. 

HORSES. 

MULES. 

MILCH  COWS. 

OXEN    AND 
OTHER  CATTLE. 

SHEEP. 

SWINE. 

Kansas      

cqi,-jc8 

87.S96 

6O9,6OI 

I,  s8  7,9  1C 

I,IO6,852 

2.161.410 

Nebraska    .... 
California    .... 
Oregon  

382,389 
289,626 
167,77? 

40,358 
36,284 

7,155 

333,839 
243,469 

7C.QC9 

1,048,200 
8,088,040 
64"?.  24? 

439,7°0 
6,069,698 
2.  C0  1  O2Q 

2,382,168 
1,017,322 

220.02O 

Nevada  

44,6s4 

1.6^7 

17,68? 

3I7.Os9 

674.486 

M.CQ7 

Colorado     .  .  . 

127  77O 

8,161; 

57.2Q4 

1,070  768 

I   149  178 

21   2OX) 

Arizona    

10,  1  68 

0,1^5 
1,863 

1C,  2^2 

247,710 

627,201 

I  7  7OI 

Dakota  

227,027 

1  1  ,964 

IQQ,48o 

710,974. 

2^6,200 

427,176 

Idaho  

4.8  7sO 

2,47.6 

24,4p8 

77Q.4C7 

271  41  7 

28  1  10 

Montana  

120,20"? 

9,229 

2Q,OQ5 

812,784 

754,688 

2O  263 

New  Mexico  .  .  . 
Utah   

20,786 

?6.  i  76 

IO,9I2 
7,1:79 

18,829 

A\    CAA 

1,220,968 
210,842 

4,025,742 
658  285 

2O,99O 

28  656 

Washington  .  .  . 
Wyoming    .... 

94,237 
82,500 

1,231 

2,850 

62,403 
6,358 

300,676 
1,255,298 

555.439 
534,020 

90,152 

2,75° 

Totals          .      .  . 

2.  2  70.  770 

217,279 

1,7^8,284 

17.84.4.802 

IQ  67?  Q4O 

6,4C.8,:;io 

536  MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

More  than  half  the  oxen  and  other  cattle  of  the  United  States  are 
in  the  New  West,  and  nearly  half  of  the  sheep.  The  whole  number 
of  farm  animals  in  the  New  West,  at  the  present  time,  is  48,205,284, 
nearly  one-third  of  the  entire  number  in  the  United  States.  Add 
the  animals  in  all  the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  aggre- 
gate is  about  seventy-four  millions,  or  nearly  one-half  the  number  in 
the  whole  country.  The  "  oxen  and  other  cattle  "  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi number  about  twenty-eight  millions,  which  is  more  than  five 
times  the  number  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Adding  sheep  in  the  same 
way,  and  they  number  about  twenty-seven  million,  which  is  ten  mil- 
lion more  than  are  found  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  same  authority  at  Washington  reports  the  available  pasturage 
of  all  grades  of  quality,  still  in  possession  of  the  government,  after 
examination  of  the  entire  area,  and  consultation  with  stock-growers 
and  others,  as  follows  :  — 


Acres. 


Dakota 75,000,000 

Nebraska 47,000,000 

Kansas 50,000,000 

New  Mexico 63,374,400 

Utah 32,500,000 


Acres. 


Idaho 35,500,000 

Washington 25,300,000 

Oregon 45,000,000 

California 69,850,000 

Nevada 38,299,789 


Colorado 45.440,ooo       Arizona 40,000,000 

Wyoming 50,000,000  

Montana 68,500,000        Total 685,733,789 

Much  of  the  so-called  grazing  land  is  annually  converted  into  ara- 
ble land  ;  so  that  the  acreage  of  the  former  is  constantly  diminishing, 
while  that  of  the  latter  is  increasing. 

The  foregoing  statistics  become  more  significant  when  we  consider 
that  only  four  of  the  fourteen  States  and  Territories  mentioned  had 
any  stock  to  report  in  1850.  Savages  and  herds  of  buffalo  roamed 
over  this  vast  domain,  but  stock-raisers  were  unknown  there.  Ten 
years  later,  in  1860,  there  were  still  five  Territories  having  nothing  of 
the  kind  to  report.  Even  Colorado  had  but  just  begun  to  live,  with 
no  stock-raising  to  record.  The  same  was  true  of  Arizona,  Idaho, 
Montana,  and  Wyoming.  As  late  as  1870,  Colorado  reported  only 
6,446  horses,  1,173  mules,  25,017  milch  cows,  5,566  working  oxen,  and 
40,153  other  cattle  —  a  total  of  78,355.  Of  sheep,  the  Territory  could 
boast  of  only  120,928,  and  of  swine,  5,509.  The  value  of  all  this 
live  stock  was  only  $2,871,102  —  less  than  three  million  dollars!  The 
growth  of  this  industry  in  Colorado,  in  sixteen  years,  is  marvellous 
indeed.  From  two  hundred  thousand  animals  to  more  than  three  mil- 
lion !  From  less  than  three  million  dollars  in  value  to  sixty  mil/ion  I 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  537 

In  1870,  Montana  had  but  5,289  horses,  475  mules,  12,432  milch 
cows,  1,761  working  oxen,  and  22,545  other  cattle — a  total  of  only 
42,502  —  with  2,024  sheep  and  2,599  swine.  The  whole  value  of  this 
live  stock  was  less  than  two  million  dollars.  In  sixteen  years  advan- 
cing from  forty-eight  thousand  animals  to  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand —  twenty-five  times  as  many  in  sixteen  years.  From  a  value 
of  less  than  two  million  dollars  to  nearly  forty  million  dollars. 

The  growth  of  this  industry  in  other  parts  of  the  New  West  is 
equally  marked,  but  our  limited  space  forbids  further  particulars.  I 
may  add,  however,  that  as  the  States  and  Territories  grow  older,  the 
grazing  lands  diminish  and  the  farming  lands  increase.  Only  a  few 
years  ago,  Kansas  was  an  immense  grazing  section  ;  but  now  its  lands 
are  surveyed  and  fenced  farms.  Agriculture  crowds  out  stock-raising. 
Within  a  few  years  the  same  will  be  true  of  Nebraska  and  Colorado ; 
and,  finally,  the  whole  New  West  will  succumb  to  this  process  of 
bringing  the  land  under  cultivation.  Not  that  stock-raising  will  be 
supplanted ;  but  improved  breeds  of  cattle  will  be  raised  on  fenced 
farms,  where  they  can  range  over  but  a  limited  area,  and  where  they 
will  be  stalled  and  fed  in  winter  after  the  manner  of  the  East. 

Governor  Crittenden,  of  Missouri,  addressed  the  first  National 
Convention  of  Cattlemen  in  St.  Louis,  Nov.  17,  1884,  and  in  his 
address,  he  facetiously  remarked  :  — 

"  No  history,  aside  from  the  Bible,  gives  an  authentic  account  of 
the  origin  of  cattle.  Two  and  two  they  went  into  the  ark  with  man, 
and  from  that  time  to  this  they  have  been  the  objects  of  trade,  com- 
manding at  all  times,  from  the  day  when  Jacob  outwitted  his  father- 
in-law,  Laban,  to  this  convention,  the  shrewdest  and  most  refined 
intellects.  Caesar,  in  his  Commentaries,  states  that  the  British  in  his 
time  had  great  numbers  of  cattle,  though  of  no  special  size  or  beauty  ; 
and  those  wild  islanders  were  kept  quite  busy  in  keeping  their  cattle 
out  of  the  way  of  the  Roman  eagles,  showing  that  even  then  men 
and  soldiers  were  no  better  than  now  —  in  'handling  stock.'  The 
magnitude  of  the  cattle  trade  in  this  country  forms  a  subject  of  pro- 
found interest,  not  only  to  our  own  people,  but  also  to  those  beyond 
the  dividing  seas.  The  immense  herds,  scattered  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia, are  the  offspring  of  a  single  bull  and  one  or  more  cows,  im- 
ported into  this  country  in  1493  by  Christopher  Columbus  a  few  days 
before  a  custom  house  had  been  established  upon  our  soil  and  officers 
appointed  to  vex  travellers  by  inquisitive  questions.  They  came 
in  on  the  free  list  as  raw  material,  and  some  acquisitive  Mexicans, 
Americans,  Indians,  and  negroes  still  think  they  are  on  the  free  list 


538  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

—  orrly  convinced  to  the  contrary  by  '  a  short  shrift  and  a  long  rope ' 
in  the  hands  of  some  travelling  judges  who  still  believe  in  that  old, 
solemn  law  of  mine  and  thine." 

The  magnitude  of  the  cattle  business,  as  expressed  by  the  fore- 
going figures  and  remarks,  was  illustrated  by  Hon.  Norman  J.  Cole- 
man,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  at  the  National 
Cattle-Growers'  Association  in  Chicago.  He  said  :  — 

"  If  a  solid  column  should  be  formed,  twelve  animals  deep,  one 
end  resting  at  New  York  City,  its  centre  encircling  San  Francisco, 
and  its  other  arm  reaching  back  to  Boston,  such  a  column  would  con- 
tain about  the  number  which  now  forms  the  basis,  the  capital  stock. 
so  to  speak,  of  the  cattle  industry  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Carnegie  says :  "  Were  the  live  stock  upon  Uncle  Sam's 
estate  ranged  five  abreast,  each  animal  estimated  to  occupy  a  space 
five  feet  long,  and  marched  round  the  world,  the  head  and  tail  of  the 
procession  would  overlap.  This  was  the  host  of  1880;  that  of  1885 
would  be  ever  so  much  greater,  and  still  it  grows  day  by  day,  and  the 
end  of  the  growth  no  man  can  foretell." 

On  the  average,  if  the  live  stock  of  our  country  were  equally  dis- 
tributed, each  family  would  have  a  horse,  cow,  four  pigs,  and  three 
sheep.  It  is  claimed  that  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  cows 
exceeds  by  $40,000,000  the  amount  invested  in  bank  stocks !  The 
cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and  swine  of  the  whole  country  represent  a 
capital  of  two  billion  five  hundred  million  dollars  ($2,500,000,000). 

WHAT   CATTLE   EAT. 

Throughout  a  very  large  portion  of  the  New  West  cattle  graze 
through  the  whole  year,  requiring  little  more  attention  than  herds  of 
buffalo.  Without  cut-feed  or  shelter  they  shirk  for  themselves,  and 
appear  in  the  spring  "  round  up,"  in  a  good  condition,  unless  an 
exceptional  cold  and  stormy  winter  has  prevailed.  The  cut  on  the 
following  page  represents  the  two  principal  kinds  of  grass  upon  which 
cattle  live  and  thrive  between  Missouri  River  and  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

These  grasses  may  be  called  perennial ;  for,  springing  up  in  the 
early  season  when  their  roots  are  bathed  in  moisture,  they  cover  the 
great  plains  with  an  olive-green,  which  the  excessive  heat  of  a  rain- 
less summer  dries  and  cures  as  it  stands,  from  six  to  twelve  inches 
high.  The  drying  and  curing  process  preserves  the  juices  of  the 
grass,  and  when  it  goes  to  seed,  by  a  remarkable  provision  of  Provi- 


MARVELS   OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


539 


dence  the  seed  does  not  drop  and  waste,  but  it  is  held  tightly  to 
nourish  the  animal  kingdom  so  dependent  upon  it.  All  the  nutri- 
ment is  thus  preserved  ;  and  this  accounts  for  the  excellent  condition 
of  cattle  that  appear  to  relish  these  grasses  full  as  much  when  they 
are  dry  as  when  they  are  green.  It  is  said  that  horses  will  leave  the 
fresher  and  greener  grass  of 
the  watercourse  for  this  dried 
and  cured  hay,  which  appears 
innutritious  and  worthless  to 
the  traveller.  The  buffalo 
grass  grows  in  bunches,  as 
seen  in  the  illustration,  and 
both  kinds  stand  up  so  stiffly 
that  they  are  never  broken 
down  by  the  heaviest  wind, 
rain,  or  snow. 

In  the  winter  the  tops  of 
the  grass,  containing  the  most 
nutritious  part,  —  the  seeds,  — 
peer  above  the  snow  for  the 
particular  accommodation  of 
cattle.  Or  if,  perchance,  the 
snow  is  unusually  deep,  and 
covers  them,  the  cattle  accom- 
modate themselves  readily  to 
the  situation,  and  with  nose 
lay  them  bare  and  devour  them. 
Snow  does  not  remain  long 
upon  the  ground  in  the  graz- 
ing country,  so  that  if  these 
grasses  were  completely  buried 
in  snow,  ordinarily  cattle  would 
not  starve  in  waiting  for  its  disappearance.  In  many  localities,  too, 
they  find  sufficient  feed  on  hillsides  and  other  protected  spots  to 
satisfy  hunger  while  other  localities  remain  buried  in  snow.  The 
cut  on  the  next  page  represents  a  collection  of  Kansas  grasses. 

A  traveller  in  Montana  furnishes  the  following  interesting  remarks 
respecting  this  remarkable  bunch-grass  :  — 

"  At  first  I  supposed  that  the  color  was  derived  from  the  nature 
of  the  soil,  but  I  afterwards  found  out,  by  actually  travelling  over 
them,  that  they  were  covered  with  a  species  of  grass  which,  as  it  is 


I.    BUFFALO    GRASS.  2.    GRAMA   GRASS. 

.(Half  Natural  Size.) 


540 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


approached,  has  the  appearance  of  ripe  grain  which  has  stood  long 
enough  to  lose  its  bright  yellow  color.  This  is  the  famous  bunch- 
grass  of  Montana  and  Dakota.  It  does  not  cover  the  ground  like 
the  cultivated  grasses  of  the  East,  or  the  blue  grass  of  Kentucky 
and  adjoining  States,  but  grows  in  scattered  bunches,  so  that, 

although,  seen  from  a  little 
distance,  the  ground  appears 
to  be  entirely  covered  with  it, 
it  actually  stands  very  thinly 
over  the  surface.  This  bunch- 
grass  comes  up  in  the  spring 
and  gets  its  growth  during 
the  rains  of  early  summer. 
Then,  when  the  dry  season 
begins,  the  seed  which  it 
bears  upon  the  top  ripens, 

tb.ut  inst;ad  fof  £a"ing  out* as 

the  seeds  ot  most  grasses 
would  do,  is  firmly  held  in 
the  head  which  encloses  it, 
and  remains  upon  the  stalk 
until  the  following  spring. 
The  stalk  itself  is  strong  and 
wiry,  containing  an  abun- 
dance of  silica,  and  is  not 
easily  broken. 

"  When  the  cattle  are  turned 
out  upon  a  range  covered  with 
bunch-grass,  they  browse  off 
the  heads  containing  the 
seeds,  but  do  not  eat  the 
leaves  and  stalk,  which  are  as 
destitute  of  nutrition  as  the 
stalks  of  rye,  barley,  or  wheat  would  be.  But  the  seeds  seem  to  have 
concentrated  in  them  all  the  elements  fitted  to  furnish  food  for  cattle 
which  the  grass,  during  its  short  period  of  growth,  has  been  able  to 
draw  from  the  remarkably  rich  soil,  and  their  fattening  qualities  are 
said  to  be  equal  to  those  of  the  best  grain.  It  is  because  the  cattle 
feed  upon  these  seeds,  rather  than  upon  the  leaves  and  stalks  of 
grass,  that  Montana  beef  is  of  so  much  better  quality  than  that  raised 
in  the  Territories  farther  south." 


KANSAS    GRASSES. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


541 


CATTLE    RANCH. 

The  first  thing  for  the  would-be  stock-raiser  to  do  is  to  secure  a 
ranch.  In  Colorado  he  would  do  this  by  buying  out  a  stockman  who 
wants  to  sell,  because  all  the  government  lands  in  that  State  are 
taken  up.  In  New  Mexico  he  would  probably  purchase  government 
land,  always  selecting  it  where  cattle  can  find  plenty  of  water. 

The  following  illustrations  of  homes  on  cattle  ranches  are  the 
.actual  representations  of  homes  that  now  exist. 


HOME  ON  A  CATTLE  RANCH. 

The  above  illustration  represents  a  house  built  of  stone,  and 
belongs  to  the  best  class  of  ranchmen's  homes.  It  contains  two  large 
rooms  and  a  loft,  accommodations  that  are  found  upon  few  ranches 
only.  The  cut  on  the  following  page  represents  a  log  house  by  no 
means  of  the  best  class,  and  yet  about  the  average  dwelling  of  ranch- 
fros,  as  herders  are  called  in  Mexico.  Few  women  are  found  on 
ranches,  the  necessary  isolation  and  hardships  being  too  masculine 
for  feminine  tastes.  Occasionally,  however,  the  married  ranchman 
shares  the  privations  of  ranch  life  with  his  wife. 


542 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


A  ranchman  describes  his 


Cowboys  sometimes  occupy  dug-outs, 
as  follows  :  — 

"  It  was  now  necessary  to  build  some  kind  of  a  house,  as  the  shan- 
ties we  had  hitherto  used  would  afford  but  poor  protection  against 
the  keen  blasts  of  winter.  The  choice  lay  between  a  log-house  and 


HOME  ON  A  CATTLE  RANCH. 


a  dug-out ;  and  as  it  would  be  difficult  to  get  straight  logs  enough 
for  the  former,  and  it  would  take  longer  to  build,  and  the  weather 
was  already  getting  cold  enough  to  make  living  out  of  doors  not  very 


A  DUG-OUT. 


enjoyable,  we  decided  to  make  a  dug-out.  A  dug-out  is  constructed 
by  digging  into  a  hill,  which  forms  the  back  and  sides  of  the  dwell- 
ing. The  front  is  made  of  logs,  and  the  roof  of  sticks,  on  which  grass 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


543 


DIAGRAM    I. 
Range  79  West. 

NORTH. 


or  hay  is  laid,  covered  by  a  thick  layer  of  earth.  A  fireplace  and 
flue  are  dug  out  at  one  side,  and  a  chimney  is  carried  above  the  roof 
by  means  of  some  stones  or  sticks 
plastered  with  mud.  It  is  a  primi- 
tive kind  of  house.  Ours  was  not 
at  all  uncomfortable,  and  with  a  blaz- 
ing log  fire  on  the  hearth,  we  knew 
little  what  the  weather  was  like  out- 
side." 

If  he  buys  his  land  of  the  United 
States  government,  he  finds  an  office 
near  at  hand,  where  maps  and  charts 
convince  him  that  the  method  of  com- 
ing into  possession  of  what  he  wants 
is  very  plain  and  systematic. 

The  United  States  government 
surveys  the  public  lands  into  a  suc- 
cession of  lines  of  townships  running 
north  and  south,  parallel  to  each 
other,  and  each  line  of  townships  is 
numbered  from  the  base  line  north- 
ward, the  two  in  Diagram  I  being 
numbered,  for  example,  138  and  139 
North,  respectively. 

Each  of  these  lines  of  townships  is 
called  a  "  range,"  which  number  from 
the  meridian  east  or  west.  This 
range,  for  example,  is  called  Range 
79  West. 

Diagram  I  shows  two  townships,  numbered 

138  and  139  North,  respectively,  in  Range  No. 
79  West.     The  parallel  line  of  townships  west 
of  Range  79  West  would  be  numbered  138  and 

139  North,   respectively,   in  Range  80  West, 
and  so  on. 

Each  township  contains  36  sections,  num- 
bered as  in  Diagram  i,  or  23,040  acres.  Each 
section  as  shown  in  Diagram  2  (divided  into 
4O-acre  tracts),  is  one  mile  square,  and  contains 

640  acres.     Each   section  is  divided   into  quarters,  containing    160 
acres  each.     Each  quarter  section  contains  40  acres. 


6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

SOUTH. 

Range  79  West. 

DIAGRAM    2. 

Section  I,  Township  139  N., 
Range  79  W. 

NORTH. 


544 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


In  describing  lands,  for  example,  the  northeast  4O-acre  tract  in 
Diagram  2,  in  section  No.  I,  in  township  No.  139  N.,  in  range  No. 
79  W.,  would  be  described  as  follows  :  N.E.  \  of  the  N.E.  \  of  Sec- 
tion i,  T.  139  N.,  R.  79  W. 

The  price  of  government  land  is  $1.25  per  acre,  though  millions 
of  acres  which  lie  in  sections  alternate  with  railroad  lands  are  held 
at  $2.50.  The  stockman  usually  buys  the  cheaper  lands,  unless  he 
"pre-empts  "  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  or  acquires  a  title  to  his 
claim  under  the  Homestead  Law  by  living  on  it  five  years. 

Cattle  are  not  confined  to  the  section  or  quarter-section,  but  roam 
at  pleasure'  over  the  range  from  November  to  May,  when  the  round- 
up begins.  A  Colorado  stockman  informed  me  a  few  years  since, 


HERD  ON  THE  RANGE. 


that,  at  the  previous  round-up,  some  of  his  cattle  were  found  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  of  his  ranch,  one  hundred  miles  west 
and  south.  Different  herds  mingle  on  the  range,  of  course,  making 
the  annual  round-up  a  necessity,  that  each  stockman  may  find  and 
possess  his  own.  The  round-up  will  be  described  hereafter. 

Many  stockmen  do  not  live  on  their  ranches.  Cowboys  take 
charge  of  the  ranches,  looking  after  the  few  horses,  cows,  and  hens, 
which  are  kept  thereon  for  immediate  use.  One  cowboy  can  take 
care  of  a  ranch  ordinarily,  from  November  to  May,  when  the  herd  is 
wandering  over  the  range  for  food.  A  pretty  lonely  time  is  his,  too, 
spending  six  months  in  solitary  house-keeping,  with  no  neighbor,  per- 
haps, within  ten  or  twenty  miles,  and  no  post-office  within  twenty- 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


545 


five  or  fifty  miles.  An  occasional  visit  from  the  proprietor,  bringing 
supplies  and  such  advice  as  the  circumstances  require,  breaks  the 
monotony  of  the  lonely  and  somewhat  singular  life. 

This  illustration  is  not  a  fancy  sketch.  It  is  the  photograph  of  a 
stockman,  taken  when  he  was  mounted  and  ready  to  start  for  his 
ranch  a  few  score  of  miles  away.  Wearing  "  half  an  acre  of  hat "  to 
protect  his  face  from  the  hot  sun,  with  a  scarf  about  his  neck  for  a 
like  purpose,  and 
his  apparel  well 
adapted  to  his  bus- 
iness, his  appear- 
ance is  so  changed 
that  an  introduc- 
tion to  his  own 
wife  may  be  quite 
necessary.  He  may 
be  a  millionnaire, 
though  he  looks 
like  a  shack.  He 
may  be  as  proud  as 
Lucifer,  but  neces- 
sity arrays  him  in 
a  homely  dress  ; 
and  he  appears 
humble.  Seated 
upon  a  Mexican 
saddle,  which  cost 
a  hundred  dollars, 
if  it  is  a  good  one, 
and  drawing  up  the 
reins  of  a  bridle 
that  cost  twenty-five  or  fifty  more,  if  it  is  worthy  of  an  aspiring  stock- 
man, he  puts  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  is  off  in  a  jiffy.  Grass  does  not 
grow  under  his  horse's  feet.  The  animal  is  trained  to  the  saddle,  and 
the  stockman  is  trained  to  him,  and  the  two  are  so  trained  together, 
that  they  fly  over  the  plain  as  if  they  were  one  thing,  as  much  as  the 
two  parts  of  a  whole.  It  is  a  lonely  ride  to  his  ranch,  forty,  fifty, 
sixty,  perhaps  a  hundred  miles  away ;  but  his  head  is  full  of  business 
and  his  heart  of  contentment  —  about  the  happiest  looking  man, 
though  he  may  be  the  homeliest,  to  be  found  within  cattledom.  If  he 
happens  to  pass  a  prairie  post-office,  the  unique  affair  serves  to  remind 


OFF  FOR  THE  RANCH. 


546 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


PRAIRIE    POST-OFFICE. 


him  that  humans  do  live  in  the 
"silent  and  solemn  country" 
through  which  he  is  passing. 

When  calling  attention  to 
the  cowboy's  home  on  the 
ranch,  we  should  have  said  that 
many  of  these  abodes  are  loca- 
ted where  various  poisonous 
creatures  infest  the  country,  as 
rattlesnakes,  scorpions,  tarantu- 
las, and  centipedes.  On  the 
shelf  before  me  is  a  bottle  of 
alcohol  containing  a  scorpion 
and  centipede  which  a  stockman 
captured  in  his  cabin  and  pre- 
sented to  me.  He  exhibited, 
also,  the  skin  of  an  enormous 
rattlesnake,  four  and  a  half  feet 
long ;  and  his  snakeship  was 
caught  just  outside  of  his  adobe 
cabin.  And  yet  it  is  seldom 
that  serious  results  transpire  from  the  intimacy  which  these  denizens 
of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  try  to  cultivate  with  ranch-life  fami- 
lies. We  think,  however,  that  even  cowboys  will  agree  with  us,  that 
their  room  is  better  than  their  company. 

A  ranchman  writes  of  rattlesnakes :  "  The  rattlesnakes  were 
mostly  of  a  small  species,  and  I  used  to  kill  one  or  two  nearly  every 
day  during  the  summer.  I  once  killed  ten  in  three  hours,  not  look- 
ing for  them,  but  just  getting  off  my  horse  when  I  heard  one  rattle, 
and  destroying  it.  I  generally  killed  them  with  my  'quist,'  which  is 
a  kind  of  riding-whip,  about  eighteen  inches  long,  made  of  raw  hide 
and  leather  plaited  together,  with  a  piece  of  iron  in  the  handle. 
A  snake  cannot  strike  unless  it  first  coils  itself  up,  so  you  can  hit 
it  when  it  is  gliding  off,  with  even  a  short  weapon,  without  fear  of 
the  consequences.  The  dogs  used  occasionally  to  get  bitten  by  rat- 
tlesnakes, but  they  always  recovered  in  a  day  or  two,  without  any  treat- 
ment ;  and  one  of  my  horses  was  once  bitten  right  on  the  nose.  His 
head  swelled  up  tremendously,  and  he  could  not  eat  for  two  or  three 
days,  but  he  ultimately  recovered.  When  a  man  gets  bitten,  the  cure 
chiefly  relied  on  in  the  States  is  copious  doses  of  whiskey,  on  the 
principle,  I  suppose,  of  similia  similibus  cnrantur" 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


547 


Below  is  the  castle  of  the  tarantula  —  a  remarkable  little  nest, 
with  its  bevel-edged  and  closely-fitting  door.  It  is  built  by  the 
female,  her  husband  possessing  no  talent  or  inclination  in  that  direc- 
tion. He  is  fierce  and  warlike,  ever  ready  to  kill  his  foe  with  his 
deadly  poison.  The  female  is  shy,  and  stays  at  home  to  look  after 
her  family,  with  closed  door 
when  she  is  within  her  castle. 
On  leaving  her  nest,  the  door 
is  thrown  wide  open,  and  re- 
mains in  that  position  until  her 
return.  At  the  approach  of 
danger,  she  springs  into  her 
castle  at  a  bound  and  closes  the 
door  behind  her.  The  taran- 
tula is  venomous,  and  there  are 
many  of  them  in  California, 
Colorado,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico. 

Cattle  are  obliged  to  seek 
water  for  themselves  as  well  as 
food.  Hence  the  stockman 
looks  for  a  well-watered  ranch. 
It  is  not  always  possible  to 
have  all  the  water  facilities  de- 
sired, so  that  cattle  must  travel 

quite  a  distance,  sometimes,  to  quench  their  thirst.  If  they  have  to 
travel  two  or  three  miles  for  water,  they  will  drink  only  once  in  two 
or  three  days.  They  excel  men  and  women  in  adapting  themselves 
to  circumstances.  They  understand  the  laws  of  storms  full  as  well 
as  scientists,  and  govern  themselves  accordingly.  They  surpass 
"  Probabilities  "  in  forecasting  the  weather,  and  know  when  a  storm 
is  actually  approaching,  as  well  as  we  who  take  and  read  the  papers. 
For  this  reason  they  thrive  and  grow  when  we  think  they  would 
starve,  and  live  when  we  wonder  they  do  not  perish. 

The  profits  of  stock-raising  are  marvellous.  For  this  reason,  men 
endure  hardships  and  brave  dangers,  dwelling  apart  from  friends  and 
civilized  society.  The  prospect  of  speedy  fortunes  reconciles  them 
to  privations  for  the  time  being. 

We  shall  furnish  the  estimates  of  several  reliable  authorities, 
showing  amount  of  capital  invested,  and  the  actual  profits  in  a  series 
of  years. 


TARANTULA  NEST. 


548 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


A  Dakota  editor  says  that  men  unacquainted  with  the  cattle  busi- 
ness do  not  realize  how  rapidly  cattle  multiply  when  all  the  female 
progeny  are  allowed  to  breed.  And  he  goes  on  to  say  :  — 

"  If  one  hundred  cows  and  their  female  progeny  be  kept  at  breed- 
ing for  ten  years,  the  result  would  be  as  follows,  estimating  that  forty 
per  cent  of  the  cows  would  have  heifers  which  would,  beginning  when 
two  years  old,  in  their  turn  have 

402  cows  in  seventh  year  drop      .     .     .  161 

525  cows  in  eighth  year  drop  ....  210 

686  cows  in  ninth  year  drop    ....  274 

896  cows  in  tenth  year  drop     ....  358 

Total,  ten  years 1,428 


100  cows  in  first  year  drop 40 

100  cows  in  second  year  drop  ....  40 
140  cows  in  third  year  drop  ....  56 
1 80  cows  in  fourth  year  drop  .  .  .  .  72 

236  cows  in  fifth  year  drop 94 

308  cows  in  sixth  year  drop      .     .     .     .123 


CATTLE    SEEKING  WATER. 


"  The  number  of  bulls  would  be  the  same  as  that  of  heifers.  From 
the  above  an  idea  can  be  got  of  the  rate  at  which  capital  increases  in 
the  live-stock  business  on  the  plains,  where  the  cost  of  keeping  a  beef 
from  birth  to  maturity  is  less  than  six  dollars." 

In  Harper  s  Monthly  of  November,  1879,  A.  A.  Hayes,  Jr.,  who 
wrote  after  careful  personal  observation,  follows  some  valuable  sug- 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  549 

gestions  with  an  estimate  of  his  own,  which  cannot  be  said  to  be 
rose-colored  :  — 

"  i.    What  amount  of  capital  is  needed  ? 

"  It  would  hardly  be  advisable  to  begin  an  independent  business 
with  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  of  which  three  thousand  would 
be  invested  in  stock.  It  is  common  for  men  employed  by  owners  to 
have  a  few  cattle  of  their  own,  which  range  with  their  employers',  and 
in  this  way  they  sometimes  get  quite  a  little  property  together,  and 
are  enabled  to  start  on  their  own  account.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
profits  on  a  large  herd  increase  in  a  greater  ratio  than  the  expenses, 
and  the  figures  to  be  given  herein  will  be  based  on  an  investment 
large  enough  to  secure  this  benefit. 

"  2.    What  profits  may  be  expected  in  the  stock  business  ? 

"The  following  may  be  pronounced  a  fair  and  reasonable  com- 
mercial estimate,  and  it  is  put  forward  with  only  the  remark  that 
while  the  figures  apply  to  circumstances  as  they  are  now,  and  there 
are  chances  and  contingencies  and  possible  disasters  attending 
money-making  adventures  of  all  kinds,  the  margin  here  is  so  large 
that  after  making  all  allowances  which  caution  may  suggest,  one  has 
still  the  promise  of  great  results. 

We  will  suppose  an  individual  or  a  firm  to  have  found  a  ranch 
to  suit  him  or  them  in  Southern  Colorado,  and  to  have  bought 
it.  The  cost  is  hard  to  fix;  but  one  of  10,000  acres,  in  com- 
plete order,  could  not  stand  in  at  more  than $50,000 

A  herd  of  4,000  good  cows  could  be  bought  at  $18  each,  or       .         72,000 

And  80  good  short-horn  and  Hereford  bulls  at  an  average  of 

$50  each,  or 4,000 

Making  a  total  investment  of $126,000 


By  careful  buying  in  the  spring  one  should  get  70  per  cent  of 

calves  with  the  cows,  or  say  2,800  calves.     Of  these,  on  the 

average,  one-half,  or  1,400,  will  be  heifer  calves.     At  the  end 

of  the  first  year  affairs  should  stand  as  follows:  — 

The  1,400  heifer  calves  will  be  yearlings,  and  worth    ....      $14,000 
There  will  be  also  1,400  yearling  steers,  worth  $10  each,  or  .     .        14,000    $28,000 

With  a  herd  of  this  size  expenses  may  be  put  at  not  more  than        $5,000 

And  for  contingencies,  sundries,  and  ordinary  losses  it  is  safe 
to  take  4  per  cent  on  capital  invested  in  stock,  say  on 
$76,000 3,040  8,040 

Profit  at  end  of  first  year $19,960 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year  the  1,400  heifers  are  two  years 

old,  and  worth  $5  more  apiece,  or  say $7,000 

And  of  the  2,800  (70  per  cent  of  4,000)  new  yearling  calves, 
an  average  of  one-half,  or  1,400,  will  be  heifers,  and  worth 
$10  each,  or 14,000 


550  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

1,400  two-year-old  steers  are  worth  an  additional  $6  each,  or    .        $8,400 

And  the  1,400  new  yearlings  are  worth  $10  each,  or    ....        14,000   $43,400 

Deduct  expenses $5,000 

And  4  per  cent  on  $76,000+  $19,960=  $95,960 3.838        8,838    $34,562 

At  the  end  of  the  third  year  the  original  1,400  heifers  are  three 

years  old,  and  worth  an  additional  $3  per  head,  or  ....  $4,200 

The  yearling  heifers  of  last  year  are  two  years  old,  and  worth 

an  additional  $5  each,  or 7,000 

There  are  1,400  yearlings  from  the  original  stock,  worth      .     .        14,000 

And  of  the  offspring  of  the  three-year-olds  (70  per  cent  of  1,400 

=  980)  one-half,  or  490,  are  heifers,  and  worth 4,900 

The  original  1,400  steers  are  three  years  old,  and  worth  an  ad- 
ditional $10  each,  or .  14,000 

The  1,400  steer  calves  of  last  year  are  two  years  old,  and  worth 

an  additional  $6  each,  or 8,400 

And  there  are  1,400  yearlings,  offspring  of  original  stock,  and 
490,  offspring  of  new  three-year-olds  —  in  all,  1,890  —  at  $10 
each 18,900  $71,400 

Deduct  expenses  on  5,400  cows,  say $6,050 

And  4  per  cent  on  ($95,960 +$34,562)  $130,522 5,221       11,271 

Profits  at  end  of  third  year  .     .     .     .    • 60,129 

Total  net  profits  for  three  years $114,651 

"  i.  No  allowance  need  be  made  for  depreciation  of  stock,  as  the 
cattle  can  with  proper  care  always  be  sold  for  beef. 

"  2.  If  the  profits  be  invested  in  cattle,  they  will  be  largely  in- 
creased. 

"  3.    No  account  is  taken  of  interest  on  profits. 

"  4.  No  account  is  taken  of  the  gradual  improvement  in  the  qual- 
ity of  the  stock. 

"  5.  Profit  can  often  be  made  by  buying  cattle  and  keeping  them 
for  a  year. 

"6.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  and  the  spring  the  food 
is  of  course  poorer  than  before,  and  as  the  cattle  are  not  then  in  the 
best  condition,  there  is  much  demand  for  good  beef  for  local  con- 
sumption. By  feeding  cattle  during  those  months  for  sale  in  Colo- 
rado, excellent  gains  should  be  realized.  Good  beef  on  the  /too/was 
worth  four  and  a  quarter  cents  per  pound  in  Pueblo  in  the  spring  of 
1879. 

"  7.  A  ranch  purchased  in  Southern  Colorado  at  present  prices  is 
almost  sure,  in  view  of  the  great  increase  in  the  business  and  the 
decrease  of  suitable  land,  to  appreciate  considerably  in  value  —  say, 
at  least  ten  per  cent  per  annum. 

"  It  will  be  plain  to  any  one  who  will  examine  carefully  into  the 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  551 

matter  that  under  ordinary  and  favorable  circumstances  profits  will 
mount  up  each  year  in  an  increasing  ratio,  and  he  can  readily  make 
figures  for  himself.  In  the  mean  time  we  have  a  balance-sheet  at  the 
end  of  the  third  year  as  follows  :  — 

Assets. 

Ranch,  with  three  years'  appreciation,  at  10  per  cent $65,000 

5,400  cows,  at  $18 97,200 

80  bulls,  at  $50       4,000 

1,400  two-year-old  heifers,  at  $15 21,000 

1,890  yearling  heifers,  at  $10 18,900 

1,400  three-year-old  steers,  $26 .36,400 

1,400  two-year-old  steers,  $16  .     '. 22,400 

1,890  yearling  steers,  at  $10 18,900 

Total $283,800 


Liabilities. 

Capital  put  in  ranch $50,000 

Capital  put  in  stock 76,000 

Capital  used  in  expenses 28,149 

Profits  on  stock,  three  years $114,651 

Profits  on  ranch 15,000  $129,651 

Total $283,800 


"A  risk  to  be  taken  into  account  would  be  a  possible  outbreak  of 
disease  at  some  time,  but  out  of  profits  as  shown  an  insurance  fund 
could  readily  be  created.  That  so  many  cattle  will  be  raised  that 
prices  will  greatly  fall  need  not  be  a  matter  of  present  fear ;  for, 
leaving  out  two  most  important  factors, — the  great  and  increasing 
demand  for  our  beef  in  Europe,  and  the  new  uses  to  which  it  is  put 
in  this  country, — our  population  has  hitherto  increased  faster  than 
the  supply  of  good  meat." 

The  last  paragraph  may  require  some  modification,  since  there  has 
been  quite  a  depression  in  the  cattle  business  of  late.  However,  the 
following  table  will  furnish  a  reliable  basis  for  present  estimates  ;  for 
it  is  still  true,  that  England's  demand  for  American  beef  is  constantly 
increasing,  while  the  home  demand  is  necessarily  greater  from  year 
to  year  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  growth  of  population.  Stock- 
raising  has  its  booms  as  other  kinds  of  business  have,  and  doubtless 
it  will  continue  to  have  them  in  the  future  from  various  causes,  some 
of  which  may  not  be  well  understood. 

Frank  Fossett,  in  his  "History  of  Colorado,"  has  the  following 
estimate  :  — 


552 


tfARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


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MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  553 

His  estimate  is  for  seven  years,  because  a  herd  is  supposed  to 
•double  in  that  period.  Cattlemen  say  a  herd  will  double  in  seven 
years  by  natural  increase,  and  during  that  time  enough  beef  will  be 
sold  out  of  it  to  pay  the  expense  of  running  it,  and  nearly  enough 
more  in  addition,  to  cover  the  original  investment.  One-twelfth  part 
•of  a  herd  is  sold  for  beef  annually  ;  and  the  annual  yield  of  calves 
will  amount  to  about  one-fourth  the  number  of  animals  in  the  whole 
herd.  That  is,  a  herd,  of  one  thousand  animals  will  amount  to  two 
thousand  in  about  seven  years.  The  calves  would  number  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  the  first  year,  increasing  from  year  to  year  as  the 
herd  grows.  The  number  of  cattle  sold  for  beef  the  first  year  would 
be  one-twelfth  of  one  thousand,  or  eighty-three  ;  and  this  number 
will  increase  from  year  to  year.  In  this  way  stockmen  estimate 
their  material  prosperity  on  paper  ;  but  sometimes  the  paper  loses  its 
value  by  the  severity  of  an  unusual  winter,  the  prevalence  of  cattle 
disease,  or  the  ravages  of  grasshoppers.  Four-fifths  of  a  herd  of 
cows  will  bring  the  owner  a  calf  annually  until  the  cows  are  twelve 
years  old,  if  kept  so  long.  A  single  cow  is  the  mother  of  one  calf  at 
three  years  of  age.  At  four,  she  has  two,  the  first  a  yearling.  At 
five,  she  is  the  mother  of  three  calves,  the  oldest  two  years.  When 
the  mother  is  six,  she  has  four  children  and  one  grandchild,  her 
oldest  calf  becoming  a  mother  herself.  At  seven,  she  has  five  chil- 
dren, and  three  grandchildren ;  for  the  oldest  daughter  has  her 
second  calf,  and  the  next  daughter  in  age  has  her  first  calf.  At 
eight,  the  grandmother  has  six  children,  six  grandchildren,  and  one 
great-grandchild  —  the  whole  family  numbering  fourteen  ;  for  her 
oldest  calf  has  her  third  calf,  the  next  in  age  her  second,  and  the 
third  in  age  her  first,  and  the  first  grandcalf  has  a  calf  also.  At  nine, 
the  original  cow  has  seven  children,  ten  grandchildren,  and  three 
great-grandchildren  ;  for  her  oldest  calf  has  her  fourth,  the  second 
in.  age  her  third,  the  third  in  age  her  second,  and  the  fourth  in  age 
her  first ;  and  the  first  grandcalf  has  her  second  offspring,  and  the 
second  grandcalf  her  first.  There  are  twenty  in  the  family  now. 
At  ten,  the  original  cow  has  eight  children,  fifteen  grandchildren, 
and  six  great-grandchildren  ;  for  her  oldest  calf  has  her  fifth,  the 
second  in  age  her  fourth,  the  third  in  age  her  third,  the  fourth  in  age 
her  second,  and  the  fifth  in  age  her  first  ;  and  the  first  grandcalf  has 
her  third  offspring,  the  second  her  second,  and  the  third  her  first  - 
twenty-nine  in  all.  At  eleven,  the  cow  has  nine  children,  twenty- 
one  grandchildren,  ten  great-grandchildren,  and  one  great-great- 
grandcalf ;  for  her  oldest  calf  has  her  sixth  calf,  the  next  her  fifth, 


554  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  next  her  fourth,  the  next  her  third,  the  next  her  second,  and  the 
next  her  first ;  and  the  first  grandcalf  has  her  fourth,  the  next  her 
third,  the  next  her  second,  and  the  next  her  first ;  and,  also,  the  first 
great-grandcalf  has  her  first,  the  fifth  generation.  Now  the  family 
numbers  forty-one.  At  twelve,  the  maternal  ancestor  has  ten  chil- 
dren, twenty-eight  grandchildren,  fifteen  great-grandchildren,  and 
three  great-great-grandchildren  ;  for  her  first  calf  has  her  seventh, 
the  next  her  sixth,  the  next  her  fifth,  the  next  her  fourth,  the  next 
her  third,  the  next  her  second,  and  the  next  her  first ;  and  the  first 
grandcalf  has  her  fifth,  the  next  her  fourth,  the  next  her  third,  the 
next  her  second,  and  the  next  her  first ;  also,  the  first  great-grand- 
calf  has  her  second,  and  the  next  her  first  —  a  family  of  fifty-six. 
Five  generations,  —  ten  of  the  second,  twenty-eight  of  the  third, 
fifteen  of  the  fourth,  and  three  of  the  fifth.  By  this  time  the  mission 
of  the  original  cow  ought  to  be  considered  accomplished,  and  she  be 
allowed  to  die  a  natural  death,  if  she  will,  although  it  is  more  proba- 
ble that,  after  making  herself  the  source  of  such  a  marvellous  income 
to  her  owner,  she  will  close  her  earthly  career  in  some  busy  mining 
camp  where  canned  corned  beef  is  reckoned  as  the  start"  of  life. 

There  is  one  serious  trouble,  however,  with  the  foregoing  figures. 
The  estimate  is  based  upon  the  supposition  that  the  cow's  progeny 
are  all  females.  To  this  date,  however,  by  no  artifice  or  persuasion, 
have  stockmen  been  able  to  make  their  cows  bring  them  all  heifers. 
We  have  no  doubt  that  they  would  if  they  could.  This  is  one  of  the 
few  things  in  which  cattlemen  have  been  baffled  ;  their  cows  will 
bring  forth  about  one-half  males,  in  spite  of  any  coaxing,  fixing,  or 
blaspheming.  Nevertheless,  the  foregoing  estimate  will  serve  a  good 
purpose,  without  reflecting  at  all  upon  the  cow  ;  for,  after  making 
due  allowance  for  her  male  progeny,  her  family  will  number  about 
thirty  when  she  is  twelve  years  old  ;  and  this  ought  to  satisfy  reason- 
able stockmen,  since  five  thousand  cows  could  show,  even  at  this  rate, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  animals  in  twelve  years,  though 
but  four-fifths  of  their  number  become  mothers,  provided  none  die, 
or  are  killed.  At  twenty-five  dollars  per  head,  this  number  would 
bring  three  million  dollars.  The  original  investment  for  five  thou- 
sand cows  would  not  vary  much  either  way  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  Whigham,  of  Colfax  County,. 
New  Mexico,  published  the  following  statement  in  1883  :  — 

"The  principal  industry  of  the  county  at  present  is  raising  cattle 
and  sheep.  The  grazing  lands  of  Colfax  County  are  justly  cele- 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


555 


Tjrated,  and  are  unrivalled  in  any  section  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
No  business  has  proved  a  more  lucrative  one  here  than  stock-raising. 
There  are  in  Colfax  at  present,  it  is  estimated,  seventy-five  thousand 
head  of  cattle,  two  hundred  thousand  head  of  sheep,  and  seven  thou- 
sand head  of  horses  and  brood  mares.  The  following  table  will  not 
be  out  of  place,  as  not  only  giving  an  estimate  of  the  profits  in  the 
cattle  business  here, — and  it  is  indorsed  by  cattlemen  hereabouts  as 
a  fair  exhibit,  —  but  will  also  give  current  prices  of  common  stock, 
with  which  it  starts,  and  the  price  of  the  improved  also. 

".Let  us  say  the  stock-raiser  makes  a  purchase  in  September  of 
a  herd  composed  of  the  following  grade  and  class :  — 

.  Capital  Invested  in  Stock. 

^50  young  cows  and  calves,  at  $25 $2,250 

too  two-year-old  heifers,  at  $12 

100  two-year-old  steers,  at  $12 

75  yearling  heifers,  at  $7 .v 

75  yearling  steers,  at  $7 

10  high  grade  bulls,  at  $75 


1,200 
1,200 
525 
525 
75° 
36,450 


Capital  Invested  in  Ranch,  etc. 


Ranch,  corrals,  etc. 
Horses  and  equipments 


$500 


Summary  Account  for  Five   Years. 


END  OF  YEAR. 

NO.  OF  STOCK. 

VALUE. 

SALES  THREE-VEAR-OLD  STEERS.       EXPENSES.       BANK  ACCT. 

First  .  . 

C-3Q 

$7  140  oo 

ioo  at  $18  oo  —  $i  800  oo          $680         $i  i  ''o 

Second    .  .  . 

655 

8,465.00 

75  at    18.00—    1,350.00            750     ,         600 

Third    .... 

.              855 

11,200.00 

60  at    18.00=    1,080.00             850              230 

Fourth  .... 

I,063 

14,620.00 

ioo  at    22.50=    2,250.00         i,  ioo           1,150 

Fifth  

1,^21 

l8,477.  SO 

130  at    22.50—    2,925.00   !       1,500            1.425 

Total    .... 

...           $4.525 

Value  of  stock $18,477.50 

Value  of  ranches,  horses,  etc 

Bank  account . 


•Capital  invested 


1,000.00 
4,525-°° 
$24,002.50 
6,95000 


Profit  in  five  years $17,052.50 


556  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  In  the  above  table  we  have  added  five  hundred  dollars  to  the 
value  of  the  ranch,  horses,  etc.,  at  the  end  of  the  five  years,  which  is 
a  low  estimate  of  the  money  charged  to  'expenses'  which  went  for 
the  purchase  of  additional  horses.  The  increase  of  cattle  has  been 
reckoned  at  eighty-five  per  cent,  allowing  five  per  cent  of  loss  from 
natural  causes  in  young  stock.  The  improvement  in  stock  bred  from 
fine  bulls  has  been  reckoned  at  twenty-five  per  cent." 

We  met  a  merchant  from  Illinois  in  Southern  Colorado  who  had 
made  an  annual  visit  there  for  eight  successive  years.  He  told  me 
that  he  saw  such  a  margin  for  profits  in  the  cattle  business  on  his 
first  visit  that  he  invested  all  the  money  he  had  laid  by,  though 
it  was  but  eight  hundred  dollars.  He  found  a  reliable  man,  engaged 
in  the  business  in  a  small  way,  and  entered  into  partnership  with 
him,  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  continue  his  business  in 
Illinois,  making  a  visit  annually  to  Colorado.  "I  have  just  sold  out 
my  interest  in  the  herd  to  my  partner  for  ten  thousand  dollars," 
said  he,  perfectly  satisfied  with  his  venture,  as  he  ought  to  have 
been.  His  partner  had  run  the  herd,  performed  all  the  work ;  and 
his  investment  of  eight  hundred  dollars  had  grown  to  ten  thousand, 
while  he  was  trading,  eating,  and  sleeping  in  Illinois. 

On  my  way  home  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Massachusetts 
man,  who  had  become  a  stock-grower  in  Nebraska.  His  story  was 
substantially  as  follows  :  "  I  was  a  manufacturer  in  Massachusetts, 
and  four  years  ago  broke  down  by  overwork.  My  physician  gave 
me  no  hope  of  recovery,  unless  I  would  give  up  business,  and  go 
West.  I  sold  out  everything,  and  removed  to  Nebraska,  with  no 
intention  of  doing  any  business.  I  had  plenty  of  money,  so  that  I 
was  under  no  necessity  to  accumulate  more.  But  I  saw  at  once  the 
profits  of  cattle-raising,  and  that  the  business  would  oblige  me  to  be 
in  the  open  air — the  best  thing  for  my  health.  Also  I  had  a  rare 
opportunity  to  buy  out  a  stockman  at  low  figures,  and  I  embraced 
it,  starting  out  with  a  herd  of  about  four  thousand.  The  next  season 
I  went  to  Oregon  and  purchased  five  thousand  herd,  and  drove  them 
over  the  country  to  my  ranch.  When  they  joined  my  herd  at  home 
they  were  worth  double  what  I  paid  for  them  in  Oregon.  At  that 
time  I  had  invested  about  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars. 
One  month  ago,"  he  continued  (which  was  October,  1883),  "I  was 
offered  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  my  herd  in  cash,  and  I 
refused  it.  I  would  not  sell  the  herd  for  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, .because  in  ten  years,  and  in  less  time  than  that,  it  will  be  worth 
a  million." 


f 
MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  557 

A  Massachusetts  man,  whom  the  writer  knows  well,  bought  a 
ranch  four  years  ago  in  Wyoming  for  which  he  paid  two  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  —  a  very  low  figure  for  the  size  of  the  herd,  — 
but  peculiar  circumstances  forced  the  sale.  There  were  twelve  thou- 
sand cattle  and  seven  hundred  horses,  with  etceteras,  on  the  ranch. 
The  purchase  was  made  in  early  summer,  and  in  December  follow- 
ing we  met  the  owner  in  Boston,  and  inquired  after  his  ranch  busi- 
ness. He  replied :  "  In  October  I  sold  my  beef,  and  since  that  six 
thousand  head  of  cattle,  the  whole  amounting  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars.  I  have  six  thousand  head  of  cattle  and 
seven  hundred  horses  left,  which  are  worth  at  least  what  I  paid  for 
the  ranch  in  the  first  place." 

Capitalists  of  England  and  Scotland  are  largely  interested  in 
American  stock-raising,  especially  in  the  New  West.  It  is  claimed 
that  in  1882  they  invested  thirty  million  dollars  in  this  industry  in 
our  country.  Taking  advantage  of  our  liberal  legislation,  they  have 
come  into  possession  of  immense  tracts  of  land,  so  that  it  became 
necessary  to  impose  barriers  to  this  method  of  gobbling  up  our  coun- 
try ;  and  recent  legislation  has  put  a  stop  to  this  wholesale  posses- 
sion by  aliens. 

A  Scotchman,  J.  S.  Tait,  has  recently  issued  a  small  volume, 
"The  Cattle-Fields  of  the  Far  West"  ;  and  it  may  be  profitable  to 
learn  his  estimate  of  the  cattle  business.  The  reader  will  easily 
understand  his  figures  by  remembering  that  a  pound  of  English 
money  is  equal  to  five  dollars,  and  a  shilling  to  twenty-five  cents  in 
American  currency.  Mr.  Tait  says  :  — 

"  Under  the  most  onerous  of  the  conditions  named,  and  where  the 
entire  pasture  has  to  be  purchased  at  ten  shillings  per  acre,  the 
profits  of  the  cattle  trade  are  quite  beyond  parallel.  In  the  case 
of  a  good-sized  herd  they  may  be  briefly  indicated  thus  :  — 

A  yearling  high  grade  steer  or  bullock,  costing  £5,  would  realize 

at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year,  that  is,  within  three  years  of  its 

purchase £8    o    o 

Less  prime  cost £3     o     o 

Less  cost  of  maintenance  for  three  years  (expenses  all  told),  at 

55  per  annum 0150 

Less  three  years'  interest  on  cost  of  five  acres  of  good  land  ...        076 
Less  percentage  of  loss  for  three  years  at  five  per  cent  per  annum 

(a  high  estimate) 0176 


Leaving  a  net  gain  for  the  three  years  of £$    o    o 

Equivalent  to  33^  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  original  outlay. 
To  this  must   be  added   the  growth  in  the  value  of  the  land 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

(which  it  might  certainly  be  expected  would  double  in  value  in 
the  same  period),  enual  to  a  further  33^  per  cent  per  annum, 
or  66)4  in  aU  on  l^-~  average  of  years. 

"  Turning  to  the  female  cattle  :  — 

A  yearling  high  grade  heifer  costing  .£3,  would,  at  the  end  of  its 

seventh  year,  realize  as  a  fattened  cow  .........  £6    o    o 

And  would  have  saved  four  calves,  valued  at  £2  each  .....  800 


Less  prime  cost      ..........     .......  ^3    o    o 

Less  cost  of  maintenance  as  above  for  six  years  at  55  per  annum  .  i    10    o 

Less  interest  on  land,  six  years     ............  0150 

Less  percentage  of  loss  for  six  years  at  7^  per  cent  per  annum 
(a  very  high  estimate),  but  the  loss  is  somewhat  greater  in  fe- 

male cattle     ..................  296 

7   14     6 

Net  gain  for  six  years     ...............  £6     5     6 

Equivalent  to  an  annual  dividend  of  33^  per  cent  on  original 
outlay,  or,  including  growth  ;n  value  of  land  as  computed 
above,  66)4  Per  cent  for  the  year. 

He  adds  :  "  This  is  not  the  most  lucrative  aspect  of  the  cattle 
question,  but  it  is  the  simplest  way  of  ascertaining  the  minimum  of 
what  a  cattle  investment  will  achieve  where  the  herd  is  of  sufficient 
size  and  the  land  owned. 

"  When  the  cattle  are  steadily  graded  up,  still  greater  results  will 
be  attained  ;  and  where,  in  addition,  the  agricultural  capabilities  of 
the  soil  are  utilized  to  winter-feed  the  fat  steers  intended  for  the 
early  market,  this  business  will  readily  pay  from  fifty  to  sixty  per 
cent  per  annum,  from  the  cattle  alone,  in  addition  to  the  accumu- 
lating value  in  its  land. 

"  And  these  immense  returns,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  are 
reckoned  on  the  entire  capital,  unrelieved  by  debentures,  the  issue 
of  which  would,  of  course,  increase  the  dividend  very  materially." 
Mr.  P.  continues  :  — 

"  The  Hon.  Moreton  E.  Post,  member  of  Congress,  and  banker, 
Cheyenne,  informed  the  writer  that  Mr.  Searight  of  Wyoming  had 
invested  .£30,000  in  the  cattle  business  of  that  Territory  in  1879,  anc^ 
having  taken  no  money  out  of  the  business,  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
put  any  in  since,  the  property  in  the  fall  of  1882  was  worth  £300,000. 
The  latter  valuation  the  writer  knows  to  be  correct,  from  having 
handled  the  property  ;  and  as  Mr.  Post  was  Searight's  banker,  he 
may  be  relied  upon  as  being  correct  with  regard  to  the  amount 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  559 

originally  put  in.  The  owner  confirmed  the  statement.  Colonel 
Slaughter,  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Dallas,  Texas, 
considered  one  of  the  best  authorities  on  the  cattle  trade  in  that 
State,  has  made  a  similar  sum  (^300,000)  in  the  business,  and  he 
has  not  yet  reached  middle  life. 

"  Mr.  Charles  Goodnight  (Goodnight  &  Adair)  the  Pioneer  of 
the  Panhandle,  has  made  (without  any  original  capital  of  his  own) 
;£  1 20,000  in  ten  years.  His  partner,  Mr.  Adair  of  Rathdairs, 
Ireland,  a  gentleman  well  known  in  this  country,  has  put  from 
£72,000  to  ,£74,000  into  the  cattle  business  in  Texas  during  the  last 
six  or  seven  years,  and  has  taken  out  from  ,£12,000  to  ;£  14,000. 
The  ;£6o,ooo  representing  the  balance  of  his  money  left  in,  is  now 
worth  ^600,000. 

"  Many  more  striking  instances  of  great  wealth  rapidly  achieved 
in  the  stock-raising  industry  could  be  adduced  ;  but,  as  already 
explained,  the  writer  is  careful  to  restrict  himself  to  statements 
which  can  be  readily  investigated  and  confirmed.  Messrs.  Post, 
Searight,  Slaughter,  Goodnight,  and  Adair  may  be  surpassed  in 
wealth  by  many  of  the  cattle  kings,  but  they  have  no  superiors 
in  standing  and  probity  ;  and  the  facts  quoted  can  quickly  be  tested 
by  inquiry  of  any  of  the  cattle  salesmen  of  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  or 
Kansas  City. 

"  Nor  is  such  prosperity  at  all  abnormal  in  the  cattle  trade. 
Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  the  writer  could  name  at  least  two 
hundred  men,  with  whom  he  is  personally  acquainted,  who  have 
achieved  their  twenty,  fifty,  one  hundred,  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  and  upwards,  in  this  business  —  starting  with  nothing  what- 
ever of  their  own,  and  founding  their  fortunes  originally  on  the' 
permission  granted  by  their  employer  to  run  a  few  cattle  with  the 
herd  they  managed  for  him.  The  cattle  towns  of  America  —  or 
towns  practically  sustained  by  that  industry  —  are,  per  head  of 
population,  the  wealthiest  in  the  world." 

Some  of  the  cattle  companies  operate  on  a  grand  scale.  A  short 
review  of  the  property  of  the  Prairie  Cattle  Company,  organized  with 
Scotch  capital,  will  give  an  idea  of  this.  The  company's  territory 
lies  in  three  divisions.  The  first,  called  the  Arkansas,  or  northern, 
division,  extends  from  the  Arkansas  River  in  Colorado  on  the  north, 
to  the  line  of  Colorado  and  New  Mexico  on  the  south,  —  70  miles,  — 
and  60  miles  east  and  west,  making  a  territory  of  3,500  square  miles, 
or  2,240,000  acres.  There  are  53,982  cattle  on  this  range,  and  300 


560  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

horses  are  used  by  the  cowboys  who  manage  the  herd.  The  value 
of  the  land,  $163,992  ;  of  cattle,  $1,705,000;  total,  $1,791,492. 

The  second,  called  the  Cimmarron,  or  Central  division,  lies  in  the 
northern  part  of  New  Mexico,  extending  84  miles  from  the  Colorado 
line  to  the  southern  line  of  Mora  County,  and  48  miles  from  Sierra 
Grand  on  the  west  to  the  Texas  line  on  the  east,  an  area  of  4,032 
square  miles,  or  2,580,480  acres.  The  worth  of  the  land  is  estimated 
at  $235,545  ;  the  number  of  cattle  is  57,799,  and  their  worth  $1,444,- 
975.  The  whole  value  is  put  at  $  1,753,920.  The  management  requires 
500  horses.  This  division  is  the  seat  of  the  company's  general  head- 
quarters, and  the  greater  part  of  the  southern  rounding-up  is  man- 
aged from  here.  A  telephone  line  150  miles  long  connects  the  gen- 
eral headquarters  with  those  of  the  Northern  division. 

The  Canadian  or  Southern  division  is  on  the  Canadian  River,  in 
the  Panhandle  of  Texas,  in  Potter  and  Oldham  counties,  the  greatest 
length  and  breadth  being  25  and  16  miles  respectively,  and  the  area 
is  400  square  miles,  or  256,000  acres.  The  land  is  not  so  good  as 
that  of  the  other  divisions,  and  its  cost  was  60  cents  an  acre.  The 
value  of  the  29,803  cattle  is  $715,272,  and  of  the  200  horses  $8,000, 
making  the  entire  property  worth  $771,072.  The  total  value  of  the 
three  properties,  whose  joint  area  is  larger  than  that  of  Massachusetts, 
is  set  at  $4,416,484.  The  company  began  business  with  104,000 
cattle,  and  in  two  years  the  number  had  increased  to  139,000,  the 
profits  in  the  meantime  making  a  dividend  of  $50,000  in  1881,  and 
$250,000  in  1882,  in  which  year  about  26,000  calves  were  branded. 

In  the  Northwest,  one  of  the  largest  companies  is  the  Powder 
River  of  Wyoming,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $1,500,000.  It  includes 
among  its  directors  the  Duke  of  Manchester  and  Lord  Henry  Neville. 
The  Marquis  de  Mores,  a  French  nobleman,  has  a  large  ranch  on  the 
Little  Missouri  River  in  Montana,  and  there  he  is  instituting  a  new 
departure  in  the  shape  of  a  slaughtering  establishment,  killing  80 
beeves,  or  two  carloads  of  dressed  meat,  a  day.  The  Northern  Pacific 
Refrigerator  Car  Company,  organized  in  St.  Paul  with  a  capital  of 
$200,000,  has  a  ten  years'  contract  with  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway, 
and  transports  the  meat  from  this  place.  It  is  believed  that  eventually 
all  cattle  ready  to  kill  will  be  slaughtered  at  the  nearest  point  to  the 
ranches  on  the  railway  lines,  and  the  meat  shipped  East  by  refrigerator 
cars,  thus  saving  the  greater  expense  of  transporting  live  stock  and 
the  loss  on  shrinkage,  as  has  already  become  general  with  the  beef 
supply  frorn  Chicago  eastward. 

There  are  larger  ranches  than  the  above,  it  is  true.     The  largest 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


56l 


ranch  in  the  world  is  near  San  Antonio,  Texas,  and  was  sold  by 
Colonel  King,  of  that  state,  to  a  London  syndicate,  for  $4,000,000. 
A  Chicago  syndicate,  of  which  C.  B.  Farwell  is  a  member,  own  a 
ranch  of  300,000  acres  in  Texas.  The  famous  Maxwell  grant  in 
New  Mexico  is  leased  for  38  years  by  the  Maxwell  Cattle  Company, 
with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000.  The  ranch  contains  1,400,000  acres, 
and  has  a  capacity  of  sustaining  80,000  cattle. 


THE   COWBOY. 

The  cowboy  plays  such  an  important  part  in  the  cattle  business 
that  we  stop  here  to  tell  the  reader  about  him.  You  have  heard 
much  about  him,  but  little  that  is  true.  So  incorrect  are  the  repre- 
sentations of  him  in  the 
Eastern  States  that  the 
reader  will  be  surprised 
to  learn  from  the  photo- 
graph that  the  cowboy  is 
a  member  of  the  human 
family. 

We  assure  the  reader 
that  this  is  a  photograph 
of  a  real  cowboy,  whom  we 
have  seen  and  conversed 
with,  and  from  whom  we 
begged  the  photo.  He 
has  been  in  the  business 
since  he  was  twelve  years 
of  age,  and,  of  course,  is  a 
veteran  cowboy  although 
he  is  not  over  thirty  years 
old.  He  has  lived  most 
of  his  life  just  outside  of 
civilization,  and  scoured 
the  "Great  Plains,"  and 
penetrated  the  Rockies, 
so  thoroughly,  that  he  is 
more  at  home  there  than  A  COWBOY. 

he  is  in  Denver  or  Greeley.  He  is  a  real  dare-devil  on  the  round- 
up, and  the  wildest  broncho  cannot  run  faster  than  he  can  ride.  He 
sticks  to  his  back,  too,  except  when  the  flying  brute  stumbles  when  on 


562 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


the  dead  run  ;  and  then,  of  course,  he  falls  with  him.  In  this  way  he 
has  learned  what  it  is  to  have  a  broken  arm,  a  dislocated  shoulder, 
fractured  ribs,  sprained  ankles,  and  bruises  without  number ;  but  he 
was  easily  mended,  and  is  now  as  good  as  new.  He  has  been  picked 
up  for  dead  several  times,  when  horse  and  rider  went  down  together 
in  their  chase  after  a  wild  steer ;  and  no  one  could  tell  why  he  was 
not  killed,  except  that  his  time  had  not  come.  And  yet  this  daring 
cowboy,  so  familiar  with  "  life  on  the  plains,"  his  life  as  wild  as  the 
cattle  which  he  herded,  actually  went  into  a  civilized  community, 
courted  and  married  a  modest,  good  girl,  and  established  a  home. 

If  her  ideas  of  a 
cowboy,  and  those 
of  her  neighbors, 
had  been  like  those 
of  many  Eastern 
people,  she  would 
.have  run  away 
from  him  when  he 
went  to  make  love, 
expecting  a  bullet 
from  a  revolver, 
instead  of  an  arrow 
from  Cupid.  The 
photograph  shows- 
him,  of  course,  as 
he  appears  at  home 
in  citizen's  dress. 

This  cut  repre- 
sents a  cowboy 
starting  for  the 
range,  equipped  for  the  service,  his  lariat  hanging  upon  the  horn  of 
his  saddle. 

People  in  the  New  West  laugh  at  the  prevalent  ideas  of  the  cow- 
boy in  the  East.  When  a  town  is  sacked,  or  a  railroad  train  robbed 
by  masked  men,  it  is  heralded  throughout  the  Eastern  States  as  the 
crime  of  cowboys,  when  more  likely  a  gang  of  professionals  from 
New  York  or  Chicago  perpetrated  the  deed.  That  there  are  bad 
cowboys  must  be  admitted  ;  but,  as  a  class,  they  are  not  the  desper- 
adoes and  cut-throats  which  many  Eastern  papers  represent  them  to 
be.  We  have  seen  cowboys  who  were  educated  in  the  best  ware- 
houses of  Boston,  and  were  told  of  others  who  were  graduated  at 


COWBOY  OFF  FOR  THE  RANGE. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  563 

Harvard  and  Yale.  They  were  in  search  of  health,  and  engaged 
in  this  business,  first,  for  health,  and,  second,  for  a  fortune.  That 
we  may  not  be  charged  with  giving  a  rose-colored  view  of  this  class, 
we  call  attention  to  the  sentiments  of  others,  whose  opportunities  of 
personal  observation  have  been  far  better  than  ours. 

The  editor  of  the  West  Shore,  published  at  Portland,  Ore.,  has 
the  following :  — 

"  The  idea  entertained  of  the  cowboy  by  the  Eastern  public  is  as 
erroneous  as  it  is  possible  to  be.  The  cowboys,  as  a  class,  are  a 
brave,  intelligent,  honorable,  kind-hearted,  and  cool-headed  class  of 
men.  In  their  ranks  will  be  found  college  graduates,  sons  of  many 
of  the  first  families  of  the  East,  men  worth  their  thousands  in  their 
own  right,  scions  of  nobility  from  Europe,  and  natives  of  the  plains 
and  mountains,  the  last,  of  course,  by  far  the  most  numerous.  That 
their  life  of  freedom  from  restraint  should  develop  certain  wild  traits 
of  character,  or  that  among  them  should  drift  an  occasional  refugee 
from  justice,  is  not  surprising ;  but  such  a  recruit  must  behave  him- 
self like  a  man,  and  should  he  commit  any  outrage  or  crime,  his  com- 
panions would  be  the  first  to  see  that  he  was  properly  punished. 
They  have  no  great  love  for  Indians,  nor,  for  that  matter,  has  any 
man  who  has  been  brought  into  contact  with  that  lazy,  pilfering, 
ignoble  race ;  and  if  they  occasionally  have  trouble  with  Mr.  Lo,  the 
blame  is  by  no  means  entirely  their  own.  No  better  description  of 
them  and  their  characteristics  can  be  given  than  the  following  by  a 
cattleman,  who  has  lived  and  worked  with  them  for  years  :  — 

"  '  The  cowboy  is  the  most  thoroughly  misunderstood  man,  outside 
of  the  localities  where  he  is  known,  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  know 
him  in  all  his  alleged  terrors,  and  as  a  class  there  are  no  nobler- 
hearted  or  honorable  men  in  the  world.  Brave  to  rashness  and  gen- 
erous to  a  fault,  if  you  should  be  thrown  among  them  you  would  find 
them  ever  ready  to  share  their  last  crust  with  you,  or  lie  down  at 
night  with  you  on  the  same  blanket.  Say  that  I  have  ten  thousand 
cattle  which  I  am  about  to  send  overland  from  Texas  into  Montana 
to  fatten  for  the  market.  Those  cattle  will  be  on  the  drive  from  the 
first  of  April  until  the  middle  of  September.  They  are  divided  into 
three  herds,  with  a  dozen  or  sixteen  men  with  each  herd.  I  intrust 
those  cattle  in  the  hands  of  a  gang  of  cowboys.  For  six  months  I 
know  absolutely  nothing  of  my  stock.  I  trust  their  honesty  to  the 
extent  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  without  a  contract,  without  a 
bond,  with  no  earthly  hold  upon  them,  legally  or  morally,  beyond 
the  fact  that  I  am  paying  them  thirty-five  or  forty  dollars  a  month 


564  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

to  protect  my  interests.  And  these  are  the  men  pictured  in  the 
East  as  outcasts  of  civilization  !  I  trust  absolutely  to  their  judgment 
in  getting  those  cattle  through  a  wild  and  unbroken  country  without 
loss  or  injury.  I  trust  as  absolutely  to  their  bravery  and  endurance 
in  the  face  of  danger,  for  a  man  to  be  a  cowboy  must  be  a  brave 
man.  For  instance,  we  are  on  a  drive.  The  cattle  are  as  wild  as 
deers  naturally,  and  being  in  an  unknown  country  are  as  nervous 
and  timid  as  sheep.  The  slightest  noise  may  startle  them  into  a 
stampede.  We  have  been  on  the  drive  all  day,  and  night  is  coming 
on.  It  is  cold  and  raining.  We  have  reached  the  point  where  we 
intend  to  round  up  for  the  night.  The  men  commence  to  ride  around 
the  drove,  singing,  shouting,  and  whistling  to  encourage  the  animals 
by  the  sounds  they  are  familiar  with  and  to  drown  any  noise  of  an 
unusual  character  which  might  provoke  a  stampede.  Round  and 
round  the  cattle  they  ride,  until  the  whole  drove  is  travelling  in  a 
circle.  Slowly  the  cowboys  close  in  on  them,  still  shouting  and 
singing,  until  finally  the  cattle  become  quiet,  and  after  a  time  lie 
down  and  commence  chewing  their  cuds  with  apparent  contentment. 
Still  the  vigilance  of  the  men  cannot  be  relaxed.  At  least  half  of 
them  must  continue  riding  about  the  resting  herd  all  night.  A  stam- 
pede of  cattle  is  a  terrible  thing  to  the  cowboys,  and  may  be  brought 
on  by  the  most  trivial  cause.  These  wild  cattle  away  from  homes 
are  as  variable  as  the  wind,  and  when  frightened  are  as  irresistible 
as  an  avalanche.  The  slightest  noise  of  an  unusual  nature,  the  bark- 
ing of  a  coyote,  the'  snap  of  a  pistol,  the-  crackling  of  a  twig,  will 
bring  some  wild-eyed  steer  to  his  feet  in  terror.  Another  instant 
and  the  whole  drove  are  panting  and  bellowing  in  the  wildest  fear. 
They  are  ready  to  follow  the  lead  of  any  animal  that  makes  a  break. 
Then  the  coolness  and  self-possession  of  the  cowboy  are  called  into 
play.  They  still  continue  their  wild  gallop  around  the  frightened 
drove,  endeavoring  to  reassure  them  and  get  them  quiet  once  more. 
Maybe  they  will  succeed  after  an  hour  or  two,  and  the  animals  will 
again  be  at  rest.  But  the  chances  are  that  they  cannot  be  quieted 
so  easily.  A  break  is  made  in  some  direction.  Here  comes  the 
heroism  of  the  cowboy.  Those  cattle  are  as  blind  and  unreasoning 
in  their  flight  as  a  pair  of  runaway  horses.  They  know  no  danger 
but  from  behind,  and  if  they  did,  could  not  stop  for  the  surging  sea 
of  maddened  animals  in  the  rear.  A  rocky  gorge  or  deep-cut  cafion 
may  cause  the  loss  of  half  their  number.  Those  in  the  rear  cannot 
see  the  danger,  and  the  leaders  cannot  stop  for  those  behind  and  are 
pushed  on  to  their  death.  A  precipice  may  lie  in  their  way,  over 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


565 


which  they  plunge  to  destruction.  It  matters  not  to  the  cowboy. 
If  the  stampede  is  made,  the  captain  of  the  drove  and  his  men  ride 
until  they  head  it,  and  then  endeavor  to  turn  the  animals  in  a  circle 
once  more.  A  hole  in  the  ground,  which  catches  a  horse's  foot,  a 
stumble,  and  the  hoofs  of  three  thousand  cattle  have  trampled  the 
semblance  of  humanity  from  him.  He  knows  this.  A  gulch  or  gorge 
lies  in  their  path.  There  is  no  escaping  it.  There  is  no  turning  to 


DEATH  OF  A  HERO. 

the  right  or  the  left,  and  in  an  instant  horse  and  rider  are  at  the 
bottom,  buried  under  a  thousand  cattle.  History  records  no  instance 
of  more  unquestioning  performance  of  duty  in  the  presence  of  dan- 
ger than  is  done  by  these  men  on  every  drive.  Should  the  stampede 
be  stopped,  there  is  no  rest  for  the  drivers  that  night,  but  the  utmost 
vigilance  is  required  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  break  from  the 
frightened  cattle.  This  may  happen  hundreds  of  times  on  a  single 
drive. 

" '  I  remember  one  instance  which,  from  the  friendship  in  which 


566  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

I  held  the  victim,  has  made  a  lasting  impression  on  me.  Two 
brothers  were  together  on  the  drive.  Both  men  had  been  educated 
in  an  Eastern  college,  but  for  some  reason  had  drifted  to  the  cattle 
plains  of  Texas  and  had  become  cowboys.  The  elder  was  the  cap- 
tain of  the  drive.  Sitting  about  the  camp-fire  one  night  the  younger 
was  very  down-hearted  about  something,  and  finally  said  :  "  Charlie, 
let's  throw  up  this  drive.  I  don't  want  to  go  ;  I  feel  that  one  or  the 
other  of  us  will  never  go  back.  I  am  ashamed  of  this,  but  I  cannot 
shake  it  off."  His  brother  was  impressed  by  his  seriousness,  but 
could  only  say  :  "  George,  here  are  three  thousand  cattle  in  my  charge. 
I  could  not  leave  them  if  I  knew  that  I  would  be  killed  to-morrow." 
"A  stampede!"  cried  one  of  the  men.  In  an  instant  they  were  all 
at  their  animals,  saddles  were  adjusted,  and  away  they  went.  The 
captain  gained  the  head  of  the  drive,  and  had  succeeded  in  turning 
them  a  little  when  his  horse  stumbled.  In  another  instant  horse  and 
rider  could  hardly  have  been  distinguished  from  one  another.  This 
is  the  class  of  men  cowboys  are  made  of,  and  I  never  knew  of  many 
instances  where  they  failed  to  do  their  duty. 

"  '  There  is  another  interesting  period  in  the  life  of  the  cowboy, 
and  that  is  the  spring  round-up.  In  the  fall  the  cattle  stray  away, 
and  in  working  away  from  the  storms  they  sometimes  get  away 
a  hundred  miles  or  so.  Each  cattle-owner  has  his  own  particular 
brand  on  his  cattle.  The  ranchmen  in  some  natural  division  of  the 
country  will  organize  a  grand  round-up  in  the  spring.  The  cowboys 
will  drive  the  cattle  all  in  together  in  one  big  drove.  Then  the 
captain  of  the  round-up  will  direct  the  owner  of  ranch  A  to  "  cut  " 
out  his  cattle.  One  of  A's  most  experienced  men  will  then  ride  into 
the  drive  until  he  sights  an  animal  with  his  brand  on.  Deftly  he 
will  drive  the  animal  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  herd,  and  then  with 
a  quick  dash,  run  the  beast  out  away  from  the  drove,  and  it  is  taken 
in  charge  by  others  of  A's  ranchmen,  while  the  cutter  goes  back 
after  another.  After  some  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  A's  cutter  will 
be  taken  off  and  B's  man  given  a  chance.  This  will  be  continued 
until  each  ranch  has  its  cattle  cut  out.  If  any  cattle  are  found 
without  a  brand,  they  are  killed  for  the  use  of  the  men  on  the  round- 
up. This  cutting  is  a  work  requiring  great  skill  and  experience,  and 
frequently  requires  the  use  of  the  lariat.  Often  cattle  with  a  strange 
brand  are  found.  If  any  one  recognizes  the  brand,  a  ranchman  living 
nearest  the  owner  takes  charge  of  it  and  notifies  the  owner.  If  no 
one  recognizes  the  brand,  the  captain  of  the  round-up  advertises  it, 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  $6? 

and  if  no  owner  is  found,  it  is  sold  at  auction  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Cattlemen's  Association. 

"  '  These  things  will  go  to  show  the  responsibilities  resting  upon 
these  men.  I  will  tell  you  how  they  get  the  reputation  for  reckless- 
ness. We  will  suppose  these  men  have  been  on  a  drive  for  six 
months  and  been  paid  off.  Then  they  are  just  like  any  other  body 
of  men  ;  they  go  in  for  some  fun,  and  on  their  lark  ride  yelling 
through  the  streets  of  some  little  town,  shoot  a  few  street  lamps  out, 
or  get  into  a  saloon  row.  Some  imaginative  correspondent  immedi- 
ately sends  an  account  of  it  to  some  Eastern  paper,  where  it  comes 
out  headed  "Another  Cowboy  Outrage."  Now,  I  know  of  hundreds 
of  cowboys  who  never  carry  a  revolver.  They  have  strict  ideas  of 
honor,  and  they  stand  upon  their  honor.  They  are  off  duty,  a  lot 
of  big-hearted,  rough  boys,  but  they  are  not  outlaws  or  outcasts. 
They  are  not  the  class  of  men  who  rob  trains  or  hold  up  people 
crossing  the  plains,  and  I  believe  that,  taken  for  all  in  all,  the 
American  cowboy  will  compare  favorably  in  morals  and  manners 
with  any  similar  number  of  citizens,  taken  as  a  class.'  " 

A  traveller  in  the  West,  writing  to  the  Chicago  Herald,  describes 
the  heroic  conduct  of  a  cowboy  as  follows  :  — 

"  One  of  the  slickest  things  I  ever  saw  in  my  travels,  was  a  cow- 
boy stopping  a  cattle  stampede.  A  herd  of  six  or  eight  hundred  had 
got  frightened  at  something  and  broke  away  pell-mell,  with  their  tails 
in  the  air,  and  the  bulls  at  the  head  of  the  procession.  But  Mr. 
Cowboy  didn't  get  excited  at  all  when  he  saw  the  herd  was  going 
straight  for  a  high  bluff,  where  they  would  certainly  tumble^down 
into  the  canon  and  be  killed.  You  know  that  when  a  herd  like  that 
gets  to  going  they  can't  stop,  no  matter  whether  they  rush  to  death 
or  not.  Those  in  the  rear  crowd  those  ahead,  and  away  they  go. 
I  wouldn't  have  given  a  dollar  a  head  for  that  herd,  but  the  cowboy 
spurred  up  his  mustang,  made  a  little  detour,  came  in  right  in  front 
of  the  herd,  cut  across  their  path  at  a  right  angle,  and  then  galloped 
leisurely  on  to  the  edge  of  that  bluff,  halted,  and  looked  around  at 
that  wild  mass  of  beef  coming  right  toward  him.  He  was  as  cool  as 
a  cucumber,  though  I  expected  to  see  him  killed,  and  was  so  excited 
I  could  not  speak.  Well,  sir,  when  the  leaders  had  got  within  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  him  I  saw  them  try  to  slack  up,  though  they 
could  not  do  it  very  quick.  But  the  whole  herd  seemed  to  want  to 
stop,  and  when  the  cows  and  steers  in  the  rear  got  about  where 
the  cowboy  had  cut  across  their  path,  I  was  surprised  to  see  them  stop 
and  commence  to  nibble  at  the  grass.  Then  the  whole  herd  stopped, 


568 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


wheeled,  straggled   back,  and  went  to  fighting  for  a  chance  to  eat 
where  the  rear  guard  was. 

"  You  see  that  cowboy  had  opened  a  big  bag  of  salt  he  had 
brought  out  from  the  ranch  to  give  the  cattle,  galloped  across  the 
herd's  course  and  emptied  the  bag.  Every  animal  sniffed  that  line 
of  salt,  and,  of  course,  that  broke  up  the  stampede.  But,  I  tell  you, 
it  was  a  queer  sight  to  see  that  fellow  out  there  on  the  edge  of  that 
bluff  quietly  rolling  a  cigarette,  when  it  seemed  as  if  he'd  be  lying 
under  two  hundred  tons  of  beef  in  about  a  minute  and  a  half." 


Mfcte 

STOPPING  A  STAMPEDE. 


THE   "ROUND-UP." 

We  have  said  that,  from  November  to  May,  cattle  wander  where 
they  please  for  food.  Cowboys  bestow  no  special  care  upon  them, 
except  occasionally,  after  a  severe  storm,  or  during  an  unusually  cold 
winter,  they  go  out  to  find  how  it  is  with  the  herd. 

About  the  twentieth  of  May,  however,  the  "round-up"  begins. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  569 

All  the  cattlemen  in  the  district  (the  grazing  country  is  divided  into 
districts,  under  the  control  of  necessary  laws)  meet  at  a  given  plage, 
each  owner  of  a  herd  furnishing  a  given  number  of  cowboys  and 
horses,  according  to  the  size  of  his  herd  ;  an  organization  is  formed 
by  the  choice  of  captain  and  other  necessary  officers ;  and  the 
exciting  and  fascinating  business  begins.  The  cowboys,  upon  their 
well-trained  bronchos,  sweep  over  the  country,  searching  for  and 
surrounding  the  scattered  cattle,  driving  them  towards  an  appointed 
locality,  where,  each  day,  each  stockman  "  cuts  out "  his  own  cattle, 
brands  the  calves,  guards  them  at  night,  and  drives  them  on  the 


GROUP   OF  COWBOYS. 

following  day  to  another  fixed  locality,  and  thus  on,  until  the  home 
ranch  is  reached,  when  they  are  again  turned  loose. 

Many  of  the  steers  are  wild  as  buffaloes,  and  often  start  off  into 
a  dead  run  just  where  the  cowboys  object  to  their  going,  and  it  is  a 
neck  and  neck  race  often  for  miles,  or  until  the  wild  creatures  are 
exhausted.  Here  the  excitement,  as  well  as  the  dangers  of  the 
business,  come  in.  Sometimes  a  wild  bull  will  turn  upon  his  pursuer 
in  a  frenzy  of  madness,  and  the  cowboy  has  but  one  thing  to  do  —  he 
must  turn  from  the  enraged  animal  and  run  for  dear  life.  Neither 
horse  nor  rider  can  wage  successful  warfare  with  a  mad  bull.  Horses 
are  trained  so  thoroughly  to  the  business  that  they  voluntarily  chase 
a  steer  when  it  is  necessary,  but  run  from  him  when  that  appears 
advisable. 


570 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


A  writer  in  the  Boston  Commercial  Bulletin  describes  his  participa- 
tion in  a  round-up  in  Colorado,  from  which  we  make  a  few  extracts :  — 

"  All  in  a  moment  the  earth  seemed  fairly  sprouting  with  cattle, 
as  they  suddenly  sprang  into  sight  on  all  sides,  the  insatiate  curiosity 
•of  the  animals  drawing  them  from  miles  across  the  country  to  take  a 
good  look  at  us.  Breathing  hard  with  excitement,  they  would  stand 
viewing  us  with  eyes  large  from  fright  and  defiance,  until  as  we 
started  for  them  away  they  would  go,  bellowing  wildly  and  with  a 
noise  as  of  hundreds  of  beaten  drums  from  the  falling  hoofs. 


THE    "ROUND-UP." 


"And  wildly  exciting  was  the  chase,  our  aims  quite  marvellously 
aided  by  the  excellence  of  our  ponies,  who  it  would  seem  might 
almost  have  accomplished  the  task  themselves.  The  perceptions  of 
a  trained  cow-horse  become  marvellously  acute.  Guided  by  the 
smallest  twitch  on  the  reins,  he  seems  to  divine  by  a  subtle  instinct 
the  will  of  the  rider.  Out  of  a  large  herd  the  horse  will  seem  to 
comprehend  at  once  what  cattle  are  to  be  cut  out,  sighting  an  animal 
apparently  at  the  same  instant  with  his  rider,  and  seeming  to  take  a 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING,  5/1 

diabolical  sort  of  delight  in  running  the  creature  down  and  frustrating 
all  its  clumsy,  contrary  efforts  to  run  the  wrong  way. 

******** 

"When  a  cowboy  leaves  his  outfit  to  join  any  other,  or  for  an 
expedition  of  any  kind,  he  always  takes  his  'string'  of  horses, 
generally  five  or  six,  as  well  as  all  of  his  personal  property,  along 
with  him.  The  tarpaulin  —  always  pronounced  as  if  spelled  tarpau- 
lion,  and  we  will  therefore  henceforth  so  call  it  —  and  the  blankets, 
comprising  his  bed,  are  wrapped  around  the  gentlest  of  his  horses 
and  made  fast  with  a  lariat  in  a  good  '  squaw  hitch ' ;  on  top  of  this 
the  precious  war-sack  is  fastened  with  especial  care,  and  thus,  driving 
his  horses  ahead  of  him,  with  all  his  earthly  responsibilities  directly 
before  his  eyes,  the  cowboy  sallies  forth.  He  gets  his  'grub'  at 
any  ranch  he  may  come  to  until  he  joins  another  grub  wagon,  and 
unrolls  his  bed  on  the  ground  wherever  night  overtakes  him,  corral- 
ling his  horses  if  he  is  so  lucky  as  to  find  a  corral,  otherwise  hobbling 
them,  that  is,  tying  the  forelegs  together  with  a  bit  of  rope.  One 
horse,  however,  ready  for  immediate  use,  he  always  stakes." 

STARTING  A   LAUNDRY. 

"  There  were  a  few  posts  to  be  replanted  at  this  point ;  but,  for 
the  most  part,  we  had  little  to  do,  and  we  improved  the  leisure  by 
establishing  a  little  impromptu  laundry  by  the  river  side.  Our 
process  was  very  simple.  Wetting  the  garments  thoroughly,  we  laid 
them  out  on  the  bank,  rubbing  them  well  over  with  soap ;  we  then 
scrubbed  and  slapped  each  piece  vigorously  between  our  hands,  when 
we  rinsed  them  well,  wrung  them  out,  spread  them  on  the  grass,  and, 
lighting  pipes,  stretched  our  exhausted  selves  out  beside  them,  keep- 
ing a  lazy  oversight  on  the  drying.  Some,  more  energetically 
ingenious,  tied  their  clothes  in  a  bunch  to  the  end  of  a  lariat,  and, 
throwing  them  out  in  the  stream,  towed  them  up  a  piece  against  the 
current ;  but,  beyond  its  interesting  eccentricity,  there  was  little  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  this  method. 

"  The  river  comprised  our  entire  toilet  facilities,  barring  the  hard 
soap  on  the  grub  wagon  ;  and  we  were  wont  to  seize  upon  every 
opportunity  for  a  bath  and  a  swim  in  its  murky  waters." 

******** 

"  The  ideas  of  roughness  and  exposure  suggested  by  sleeping  out 
are  not  sustained  by  the  facts  in  the  cowboy's  case,  as  in  the  tar- 
paulion  properly  folded  he  sleeps  as  warmly  and  comfortably  as  in  a 


572 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


tent.  The  method  of  his  bed-making  is  not  without  art  of  its  own. 
He  first  spreads  out  his  tarpaulion  on  the  ground.  On  the  middle, 
at  one  end,  a  few  inches  below  the  edge,  widthwise,  his  blankets, 
each  folded  once  through  the  middle,  are  laid ;  his  war-sack  is 
arranged  for  a  pillow,  and  then  the  tarpaulion  is  folded  over  the 
blankets  on  either  side,  making  a  sausage-like  roll  of  the  canvas 


STARTING  A  LAUNDRY. 


some  two  feet  wide,  and  the  full  sixteen  feet  long.  Going  to  the 
foot  then  he  makes  a  last  fold  just  below  his  blankets,  drawing  the 
extra  length  well  up  over  his  pillow,  where  it  will  extend  a  couple  of 
feet,  forming  ample  shelter  from  rain. 

"When  one  crawls  into  bed  he  first  throws  back  the  top  folds  of 
the  tarpaulion,  drawing  it  out  a  little  wider  than  the  bed  beneath ; 
then  boots,  hat,  chaparrals,  and  other  garments  are  arranged  above 
the  pillow,  and  he  gently  insinuates  himself  down  between  the 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  573 

blankets,  pulling  the  extra  length  of  canvas  up  over  his  head.  If 
the  wind  blows  hard,  he  reaches  up  and  tucks  the  loose  canvas  well 
under  his  head,  his  covering  presenting  a  smooth  surface  to  the 
weather,  and  his  body  acting  as  a  water-shed,  so  that  he  can  sleep  in 
warm  security  through  the  heaviest  storm.  With  the  blankets  prop- 
erly folded  inside  the  tarpaulion,  the  whole  is  rolled  up  into  a  huge 
roly-poly  package  during  the  day,  going  on  the  grub  wagon  when  the 
camp  moves ;  and  but  a  few  minutes  suffices  at  night  for  the  cow- 
boy to  '  roll  down '  his  bed,  and  establish  himself  in  what  his  hard 
day's  work  has  taught  him  to  regard  as  sufficient  luxury. 

"  In  getting  started,  a  young  lad,  who  had  just  joined  the  outfit 
at  Sterling,  having  a  bucking  horse  of  extreme  viciousness,  was 
thrown  twice,  once  landing  safely  on  his  feet,  but  the  next  time 
striking  on  his  head  with  terrible  force.  As  the  poor  boy  —  he  was 
no  more  than  fourteen  years  old  —  staggered  to  his  feet,  sick  and 
dizzy,  to  try  it  again,  I  took  pity  on  him,  and,  riding  out  to  the  herd, 
roped  up  a  fresh  horse,  while  one  of  the  other  boys  hastily  helped 
me  to  shift  the  lad's  saddle  and  help  him  on  in  good  shape.  Had  he 
been  a  few  years  older,  nobody  would  have  dreamed  of  interfering, 
nor  should  I  have  ventured  to  do  it  even  then  had  I  seen  the  fore- 
man about.  He  was  on  hand,  however ;  and  his  wrath  at  my  irregu- 
larity of  friendliness  was  prompt  and  outspoken,  evidently  increasing 
the  unreasoning  hostility  with  which  he  had  all  along  regarded  me. 

"  Cowboys  generally  are  skilled  horsemen,  many  of  them  expert 
'broncho-breakers,'  really  capable  of  sustaining  the  common  boast 
of  being  'able  to  ride  anything  that  wears  hair.'  Some  of  their 
fancy  riding,  picking  up  coins  and  blossoms  from  the  ground  while 
going  at  full  speed,  and  other  feats  of  a  similar  nature,  are  wonder- 
fully graceful.  For  these  tricks,  however,  the  horse,  as  well  as  the 
rider,  must  be  trained,  an  undisciplined  horse  always  stopping  when 
one  leans  low  from  the  saddle,  which  is  likely  to  throw  the  rider  from 
the  force  of  inertia.  A  favorite  feat  of  the  cowboy  broncho-breaker, 
and  one  by  no  means  easy,  is  to  place  silver  dollars  in  his  stirrups,  — 
when  he  can  get  together  so  much  wealth,  —  and  back  himself  to 
hold  the  coins  in  place  while  he  rides  his  horse  at  full  speed,  instigat- 
ing him  to  buck  as  much  as  possible." 

The  reader  will  find  much  additional  information  about  the  round- 
up from  the  following  description  by  a  Kansas  ranchman  :  — 

"  This  part  of  the  country  is  drained  by  a  number  of  rivers  which 
all  flow,  roughly  speaking,  in  a  southeasterly  direction.  Between 
the  rivers  are  'divides,'  that  is,  tracts  of  land  more  or  less  elevated, 


574 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


and  from  them  small  streams  or  '  creeks '  run  down,  at  various  dis- 
tances from  each  other,  to  the  rivers.  Let  us  suppose  that  we  are 
going  to  round  up  a  certain  section  of  country.  Some  point  is  fixed 
on  the  river  that  runs  through  that  section,  at  which  to  commence 
work.  Every  one  likely  to  have  any  cattle  in  that  neighborhood 
sends  one  or  more  representatives,  according  to  the  number  he  ex- 
pects to  find.  The  smaller  owners  club  together  and  fit  out  a  wagon 
with  provisions,  so  that  there  may  be  with  one  wagon  six  or  eight 


PICKING    UP  A  COIN. 

men  representing  as  many  different  brands.  The  big  men,  who 
expect  to  find  perhaps  one  thousand  head,  send  a  wagon  of  their  own, 
with  five  or  six  riders.  We  will  suppose  the  meeting-point  about 
thirty  miles  from  our  camp.  About  two  days  before  the  time  fixed 
for  beginning  work  we  load  a  wagon  with  provisions,  according  to 
the  number  of  men  who  go  with  it,  and  the  probable  time  of  their 
absence.  Each  man  puts  in  his  own  roll  of  blankets.  A  driver  is 
provided,  who  has  also  to  act  as  cook.  Each  of  the  riders  is  provided 
with  several  horses,  the  usual  allowance  being  about  five  to  a  man. 
A  horse-herder  is  generally  taken,  whose  sole  duty  is  to  look  after 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


575 


the  loose  horses.     When  we  are  ready  we  make  our  start,  driving  the 
loose  horses  before  us. 

"  In  the  middle  of  the  day  we  camp  for  dinner,  and  probably  wish 
to  change  our  horses.  To  effect  this,  a  couple  of  ropes  are  stretched 
from  the  wheels  of  the  wagon,  a  man  holding  the  end  of  each,  so  as 
to  form  an  angle  into  which  the  horses  are  driven.  The  men  stand 
behind  the  horses  to  prevent  them  from  getting  out  at  the  open  side 
of  the  triangle,  each  armed  with  a  lariat,  which  he  throws  over  the 
head  of  the  particular  animal  he  wishes  to  ride,  and  pulls  him  out  of 
the  herd.  When  every  one  has  caught  his  horse,  the  remainder  are 


GRUB  WAGON    FOR  THE  "  ROUND-UP." 

turned  loose  again  to  graze,  until  it  is  time  to  go  on.  At  night  we 
camp  beside  a  stream,  if  we  can  find  one,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the 
horses  from  straying,  we  round  them  up  again,  and  hobble  them  by 
tying  a  short  rope  to  the  forelegs  of  each.  A  couple  of  horses  are 
picketed  out,  with  which  to  get  up  the  others  in  the  morning.  The 
following  morning,  at  daybreak,  the  cook  is  up  and  gets  breakfast 
for  us,  while  two  of  the  men  go  to  hunt  up  the  horses,  unhobble 
them,  and  drive  them  back  to  the  wagon.  After  breakfast  the  wagon 
is  reloaded  with  the  bedding  and  cooking  utensils,  and  we  proceed 
on  our  journey.  On  reaching  our  destination  that  evening,  we  see 
wagons  dotted  about  in  every  spot  convenient  for  camping,  while 
huncfreds  of  horses  are  grazing  about  in  herds,  averaging,  perhaps, 


5/6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

fifty  or  sixty  head.  The  men  are  for  the  most  part  lounging  round 
their  camp-fires,  discussing  cattle,  bragging  of  the  speed  of  their 
horses,  or  describing  the  various  brands  of  which  they  are  in  search. 

"  The  next  morning  we  are  early  astir.  The  '  boss '  of  the  range 
we  are  on  comes  along  and  tells  us  what  he  wants  us  to  do.  We  are 
to  work  perhaps  two  creeks  that  morning.  A  party  is  sent  up  to  the 
head  of  each  creek  to  drive  the  cattle  down  to  the  mouth,  while  a 
third  rounds  up  the  cattle  along  the  river.  Our  party  is  split  up  so 
that  two  or  three  may  be  present  at  each  round-up,  and  as  the  men 
with  our  wagon  are  all  well  acquainted  with  each  other's  brands,  we 
arrange  to  cut  any  cattle  belonging  to  any  of  our  party  wherever  we 
may  find  them.  The  detachments  that  are  to  work  the  creeks  ex- 
tend themselves  on  the  way  up,  and  throw  on  to  the  creeks  all  the 
cattle  grazing  in  their  neighborhood.  When  we  get  to  the  head 
water  of  our  creek,  which  may  be  about  five  miles  long,  we  bring  in 
any  cattle  we  can  find  on  the  divide,  and  then  our  whole  party  ride 
down,  pushing  all  the  cattle  before  them  nearly  to  the  river ;  and 
wherever  we  find  a  convenient  level,  we  round  them  up,  the  men 
posting  themselves  round  the  herd,  which  contains  perhaps  seven  or 
eight  hundred  head,  to  prevent  them  from  breaking  away.  Then 
the  work  of  cutting  out  begins.  The  boss  of  the  range  has  appointed 
two  of  his  men  to  help  to  hold  the  herd,  and  also  to  prevent  every- 
body from  rushing  in,  as  soon  as  the  cattle  are  rounded  up,  and 
'ginning  them  around,'  as  he  would  call  it,  so  that  no  one  can  work 
properly,  and  the  calves  all  get  separated  from  their  mothers,  making 
it  impossible  to  tell  to  whom  they  belong.  As  soon  as  the  cattle 
have  quieted  down,  the  word  is  given  that  one  man  from  each  outfit 
may  go  in  and  cut  out.  One  of  our  party  goes  in,  and  wherever  he 
sees  an  animal  bearing  one  of  our  brands  he  runs  it  out,  continuing 
until  we  have  collected  a  little  bunch  of  cattle,  which  a  second  man 
herds,  to  prevent  them  from  straying  off  and  mixing  with  the  other 
'  cuts.'  When  we  have  got  out  all  our  cattle  we  drive  them  off 
towards  our  wagon.  In  the  meantime  two  other  round-ups  have 
been  proceeding,  and  our  '  cuts '  from  them  are  brought  along  and 
all  thrown  together,  forming  the  nucleus  of  what  we  call  our  '  day- 
herd  '  .  .  . 

"A  horse  that  knows  what  is  wanted  goes  quietly  through  the 
herd  while  you  are  looking  for  your  brand  ;  then,  when  you  have 
singled  out  your  animal  and  urged  her  on  gently  to  the  edge  of  the 
herd,  he  perceives  at  once  which  is  the  one  to  be  ejected.  When 
you  have  got  her  close  to  the  edge,  you  make  a  little  rush  behind  her. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


577 


and  she  runs  out ;  but  as  likely  as  not,  as  soon  as  she  finds  herself 
outside  the  herd  she  tries  to  get  back  again,  and  makes  a  sudden 
wheel  to  the  left  to  get  past  you.  Instantly  your  horse  turns  to  the 
left,  and  runs  along  between  her  and  the  herd  so  that  she  cannot  get 
in.  Then  she  tries  to  dodge  in  behind  you.  The  moment  she  turns, 
your  horse  stops  and  wheels  round  again,  always  keeping  between 
the  cow  and  the  herd,  till  she  gives  it  up  and  runs  out  to  the  cut 
where  you  want  her.  A  good  cutting  horse  will  do  all  this  with  the 
reins  lying  loose  upon  his  neck. 

"  But  it  is  time  to  get  our  dinner.     When  that  is  over,  we  tell  the 
cook  to  take  the  wagon  up  the  river  about  six  miles,  and  there  camp. 


PREPARING  FOR  THE  NIGHT-HERD. 


Two  of  our  party  are  told  off  to  follow  with  the  day-herd,  and  the 
rest  of  us  attend  a  couple  more  round-ups  that  take  place  in  the  after- 
noon. That  night  we  picket  out  a  horse  apiece,  as  we  have  to  herd 
our  cattle.  The  leader  of  the  party  divides  the  night  into  so  many 
reliefs,  and  tell  each  man  at  what  hour  he  has  to  go  'on  herd."  The 
next  day  we  work  on  up  the  river  in  the  same  way,  and  so  on  de  die 
in  diem  till  we  have  rounded  up  all  the  cattle  in  that  section  of  the 
country. 

"  If  our  day-herd  becomes  unwieldy  in  size,  we  despatch  it  to  the 
range  with  a  couple  of  men,  and  commence  a  fresh  herd.  Notwith- 
standing all  our  care,  some  cattle  are  sure  to  be  left  behind.  A  cer- 
tain number  have  probably  escaped  being  rounded  up.  A  few  w« 


5/8  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

have  accidentally  missed,  even  when  they  were  in  the  round-up,  and 
some  calves  were  not  to  be  found,  so  that  we  have  left  the  cows 
behind  to  hunt  them  up.  In  a  few  weeks,  therefore,  we  shall  work 
over  the  same  ground  again,  and  then  we  shall  get  nearly  everything 
that  we  left  behind  on  the  first  occasion." 

The  same  writer  furnishes  an  incident  showing  how  readily  cattle 
learn  :  — 

"  The  cattle  were  so  well  acquainted  with  my  movable  shanty  that 
they  felt  quite  at  home  near  it  They  had  a  very  annoying  habit  of 
getting  up  early  in  the  morning,  just  as  one  was  enjoying  his  final 
and  sweetest  nap,  and  rubbing  their  foreheads  against  the  corners  of 
the  house,  every  now  and  then  bringing  their  horns  with  a  bang 
against  the  sides.  When  we  moved  down  on  Big  Sandy,  we  had  to 
wait  two  or  three  days  before  we  could  get  a  man  to  haul  down  the 
shanty,  so  we  bedded  the  cattle  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek  to 
that  on  which  we  intended  to  station  the  house,  in  order  that  they 
might  get  into  the  habit  of  sleeping  a  little  way  off  from  it ;  but  the 
very  first  night  after  it  arrived  they  all  with  one  consent  moved 
across  the  creek  and  bedded  themselves  close  beside  it." 

A  ranchman  relates  the  following  incident  illustrative  of  the  peri- 
lous experience  of  cattle-driving  :  — 

"  One  is  not  ordinarily  much  troubled  by  insomnia  when  cattle- 
driving,  but  I  had  a  bad  nightmare  one  night,  which  was  not  imagi- 
nary, but  came  in  the  shape  of  a  real  cow.  I  had  taken  the  first 
relief  at  night-herding,  and  when  my  time  was  up,  and  I  had  called 
the  next  man,  I  lay  down  near  the  herd  and  was  soon  unconscious  of 
all  around.  While  I  was  enjoying  my  peaceful  slumbers,  an  old 
brute  of  a  cow  came  grazing  in  my  direction,  and  as  soon  as  she  saw 
the  herder  coming  round  to  turn  her  in,  she  started  to  run.  When 
she  came  to  where  I  was  lying,  she  planted  her  foot  on  my  chest, 
having  scraped  my  lip  with  her  hoof,  and  she  then  stepped  on  the 
leg  of  one  of  the  boys,  who  was  sleeping  beside  me,  who  awoke  with 
a  fearful  yell,  exclaiming  that  his  leg  was  broken  !  For  a  few  minutes 
I  felt  doubtful  whether  I  was  half  killed  or  not,  but  finally  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  I  was  not  much  damaged,  and,  my  neighbor 
seeming  also  to  perceive  that  this  first  rash  statement  respecting  his 
leg  was  untenable,  we  soon  resigned  ourselves  again  to  the  arms  of 
Morpheus." 

A  stockman  from  whom  we  have  already  quoted  describes  the 
horses  chiefly  used,  thus  :  — 

"  They  are  for  the  most  part  bred  in  Texas,  and  are  exactly  suited 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING, 


579 


to  the  work  required  of  them.  They  are  generally  small,  but  re- 
markably tough.  A  man  does  not  think  anything  of  catching  up  one 
from  grass  and  riding  him  forty  or  fifty  miles  in  a  day.  They  are 
never  given  any  corn  during  the  summer,  and,  if  at  the  beginning  of 
winter  they  are  turned  loose  in  fair  condition,  they  will  hold  their 
own  on  the  grass,  and  fatten  up  very  fast  as  soon  as  the  green  grass 
comes  in  the  spring.  Those  that  are  used  in  the  winter  require 
some  grain.  Notwithstanding  their  small  size,  they  are  up  to  con- 
siderable weight.  The  Mexican  saddle  in  general  use  weighs  from 
thirty  to  forty  pounds, 
and  on  top  of  that  you 
may  sometimes  see  a 
man  of  fourteen  or  fif- 
teen stone.1  In  point 
of  temper  they  vary 
considerably.  Some 
are  as  docile  as  could 
be  wished,  while  a  good 
many  are  addicted  to 
'bucking.'  When  a 
horse  bucks  he  puts  his 
head  down  between  his 
legs,  arches  his  back 
like  an  angry  cat,  and 
springs  into  the  air 
with  all  his  legs  at 
once,  coming  down 
again  with  a  frightful 
jar,  and  he  sometimes 
keeps  on  repeating  the 

performance  until  he  is  completely  worn  out  with  the  excursion.  The 
rider  is  apt  to  feel  rather  worn  out  too  by  that  time,  if  he  has  kept  his 
seat,  which  is  not  a  very  easy  matter,  especially  if  the  horse  is  a  real 
scientific,bucker,  and  puts  a  kind  of  side  action  into  every  jump.  The 
double  girth  commonly  attached  to  these  Mexican  saddles  is  useful 
for  keeping  the  saddle  in  its  place  during  one  of  those  bouts,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  they  frequently  make  a  horse  buck  who  would 
not  do  so  with  a  single  girth.  With  some  animals  you  can  never 
draw  up  the  flank  girth  without  setting  them  bucking.  ...  A  really 

1  A  "  stone  "  in  Great  Britain  is  fourteen  pounds. 


A  BUCKING  HORSE. 


580  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

good  Texas  cow-pony,  when  broken,  is  worth  from  sixty  to  seventy 
dollars.  The  common  sort  can  be  had  for  half  that  price." 

When  the  cattle  of  a  district  are  all  collected,  the  work  of  "  cut- 
ting out "  the  cattle  of  each  owner  begins.  It  is  an  exciting  and 
interesting  feature  of  the  round-up.  Each  owner  has  his  brand, 
which  is  properly  recorded  at  a  State  office ;  and  his  cowboys,  skilled 
in  the  business,  separate  his  cattle  from  the  herd  one  by  one.  The 
cowboys  not  engaged  in  cutting  out  surround  the  herd  and  keep 

them  together.  The  illustration 
shows  the  present  style  of  branding 
cattle. 

This  brand  is  taken  from  the  book 
of  brands  published  by  the  "Wyo- 
ming Stock-Growers'  Association." 
The  book  contains  the  brand  em- 
ployed by  every  member  of  the  asso- 

CATTLE  BRAND.  .       .  „    i  i   •      i        i  •       • 

ciation.  Other  kindred  associations 

employ  the  same  method,  so  that  all  the  brands  of  the  country  are 
known,  and  to  whom  they  belong.  Under  this  arrangement  the  loss 
of  cattle  by  straying,  theft,  or  false  claim  is  small. 

Branding  cattle  is  cruelty.  The  above  brands  are  burned  into  the 
hide  with  red-hot  iron.  The  cruelty  of  the  method  has  prompted 
cattlemen  to  seek  some  better  way  to  mark  their  property.  But  as 
yet,  no  method  has  been  discovered  that  meets  the  conditions  of 
ranch  life  so  well  as  this.  There  is  no  doubt  that  some  other  way 
of  marking  cattle  will  be  discovered,  superseding  the  present  cruel 
method. 

The  cowboy  fastens  his  eyes  upon  an  animal  wearing  his  employ- 
er's brand,  and  then  proceeds  to  separate  it  from  the  herd.  It  is  not 
so  long  and  difficult  a  job  as  might  at  first  appear,  though  often  an 
exciting  race  and  hard  tussle  transpires.  Calves,  of  course,  will  fol- 
low their  mothers,  and  the  mothers  will  not  leave  their  calves  for 
much  of  a  run.  An  eye-witness  says  of  this  part  of  the  round- 
up :- 

"Experienced  cowboys  ride  in  among  the  cattle,  and,  selecting 
the  animals  bearing  their  employer's  brand,  drive  them  out  of  the 
general  herd  and  form  others,  each  composed  of  cattle  representing 
one  ownership.  This  work  is  called  'cutting  out.'  The  men  not 
engaged  in  cutting  out  are  employed  in  '  holding '  the  herds.  The 
foreman  of  the  round-up  has  supervision  of  the  work,  and  sees  that 
cattle  are  claimed  only  by  the  men  entitled  to  them. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


58l 


"  When  cutting  out  has  been  finished  at  one  general  herd,  another 
is  '  worked '  in  the  same  manner,  and  then  another,  and  so  on, 
until  all  the  cattle  driven  in  during  the  day's  round-up  have  been 
inspected  and  separated. 

"When  the  cowboys  have  taken  from  the  herds  all  the  cattle 
belonging  to  their  respective  employers,  there  are  usually  a  few 
cattle  left  over.  These  are  estrays  and  mavericks.  Both  classes 
are  disposed  of  under  regulations  of  the  association. 

"  Stray  animals  whose  owners  are  unknown,  and  which  are  of  a 
marketable  weight,  are  taken  up,  shipped,  and  marketed.  A  report 
of  the  fact  is  made  to  an  association  inspector,  and  the  proceeds  are 


ROPING  AND  CUTTING  OUT. 


remitted  to  the  secretary  of  the  association,  who  keeps  an  account 
of  the  money  for  the  purpose  of  turning  it  over  to  the  owner  of  the 
estrays,  should  he  be  found.  But  if  by  the  time  of  the  next  annual 
meeting  no  one  has  claimed  the  purchase  money,  it  becomes  part  of 
the  general  fund  of  the  association. 

"A  'maverick '  is  an  unbranded  calf  away  from  its  mother.  The 
custom  among  stockmen,  recognized  by  the  rules  of  the  association, 
is  to  brand  a  maverick  found  on  the  general  round-up  with  the  mark 
belonging  to  the  largest  female  herd  in  the  neighborhood." 

Branding  calves  follows  '  cutting  out,'  which  requires  the  services 
of  four  men.  While  calves  are  expected  to  stick  to  their  mothers, 
they  are  so  wild  and  nimble  that  often  the  cowboy  has  a  race  after 
them.  A  strapping  great  cowboy  on  his  horse,  chasing  one  of  these 


582 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


diminutive  little  creatures  has  been  the  occasion  of  much  loud 
laughter  that  is  comical  indeed.  Mr.  Keyes,  speaking  from  per- 
sonal observation,  says  :  — 

"  Perhaps  you  may  think  that  this  is  an  easy  task  ;  but  you  would 
find  if  you  tried  it  that  you  were  never  more  mistaken  in  your  life, 
for  the  ease  with  which  the  rancheros  accomplish  it  has  only  come 
with  careful  training  and  long  practice.  The  little  animal  runs  won- 
derfully fast,  springs,  turns,  and  dodges  almost  like  a  flash.  But  the 
cowboy  never  takes  his  eyes  off  of  him  ;  and  the  trained  horse,  now 
well  warmed  up,  and  entering  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the  chase, 


BRANDING  CALVES. 


*  responds  to,  almost  seems  to  anticipate,  every  turn  of  his  rider's  left 
hand  and  wrist.  Meanwhile  the  latter,  with  his  right  arm,  is  swing- 
ing his  noosed  rope,  or  lasso  ;  and  in  another  minute  he  has  thrown 
it  exactly  over  the  calf's  head.  Instantly  the  horse  plunges  forward, 
giving  'slack'  to  the  rope,  and  allowing  it  to  be  wound  around  the 
horn  of  the  saddle ;  then  he  moves  on,  dragging  the  calf  after  him, 
and  the  little  creature  is  soon  in  the  hands  of  the  men  with  the 
branding-irons.  These  have  been  heated  in  a  hot  fire,  and  are 
quickly  applied  ;  and  in  a  few  minutes,  the  calf,  now  indelibly  desig- 
nated as  the  property  of  his  master,  is  again  running  about." 

After  the  general    round-up   in   summer,  there  follows  the  beef 
round-up,   collecting  cattle   which    are  in  a  good   condition  for  the 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 

market.  This  occurs  in  August  and  September,  so  that  the  beeves 
can  be  sent  to  market  in  October.  This  is  the  most  interesting  part 
of  the  whole  year  to  the  stockman  ;  for  he  learns  at  this  time  what 
his  profits  are.  His  object  in  raising  cattle  is  to  make  money, 
appeasing  the  hunger  of  his  fellow-men  being  only  incidental  to  his 
business.  Hence,  he  is  happy  when  his  beef  from  a  herd  of  two 


thousand  returns  him  seven  or  eight  thousand  dollars  ;  or  his  herd  of 
three  thousand  returns  him  ten  thousand  dollars  for  beef ;  or  his  herd 
of  twelve  thousand  animals  returns  him  forty  or  fifty  thousand  dollars  ; 
or  his  herd  of  twenty-five  thousand  returns  a  round  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  beef.  Such  returns  are  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  genial  days  of  October ;  and  no  wonder  the  stockman  is  "  con- 
tented with  all  the  world,  and  all  the  world  with  him." 

But    his  fat   cattle  must  be  sent  by  rail  to  market,  probably  to 


584  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Kansas  City  or  Chicago.  He  may  be  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred 
miles  away  from  his  market ;  and  it  is  no  small  job  to  transport 
cattle  that  distance,  many  of  them  as  wild  as  beasts  of  prey. 

The  herd  may  be  many  miles  from  the  railroad  —  twenty-five, 
one  hundred  miles,  or  even  more.  They  must  be  driven  over  this 
distance,  subject,  in  some  localities,  to  the  driving  snow-storms  of 
the  season,  in  which  man  and  beast  suffer  seriously.  Full  as  much 
care  and  watch  must  be  bestowed  upon  them  at  night  as  through  the 
day.  But  they  reach  the  railroad  station,  where  suitable  corrals  are 
found  in  which  to  enclose  them  until  freight-cars  appear.  We  have 
known  a  stockman  to  wait  thirteen  days  in  a  storm  of  snow  and  sleet 
for  the  expected  cars,  man  and  beast  suffering  intensely  night  and 
day. 

The  following  description  of  a  "night  run"  of  cattle  in  Montana, 
going  to  the  railroad,  will  furnish  the  reader  with  additional  ideas 
about  the  cowboy's  trials  :  — 

"  A  large  herd  of  big  steers  for  market  were  being  driven  across 
the  country  from  Musselshell  to  Billings,  on  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad,  where  they  were  to  be  shipped  on  the  cars  for  Chicago. 
There  were  about  two  thousand  head,  I  should  judge,  the  property  of 
a  Mr.  De  Hass,  a  very  young  man.  One  evening  a  military  camp 
had  been  made  just  ahead  of  the  cattle,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the 
creek  with  them,  up  which  the  cattle  were  being  driven.  A  storm 
was  coming  up,  and  the  cattle  exhibited  some  signs  of  uneasiness. 
Mr.  De  Hass  sent  word  to  the  military  officer  that  he  had  better  get 
his  men,  wagons,  and  animals  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek  and 
out  of  the  way,  as  he  feared  there  was  going  to  be  a  "night  run." 
The  herders  were  instructed  to  keep  their  horses  saddled  and  be 
ready  to  mount  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  cattle  were  very  uneasy, 
getting  up,  lying  down  again,  and  shifting  about  as  if  uncomfortable. 
At  last,  about  midnight,  there  came  a  sharp  flash  of  lightning, 
followed  by  a  heavy  peal  of  thunder,  and  in  an  instant  the  whole  herd 
were  upon  their  feet.  'Mount  and  whip  out,'  cried  De  Hass,  and 
the  herder  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  column  drove  off  a  few  of  the 
leading  steers  in  the  direction  they  were  to  go.  All  the  others 
followed,  and  the  herd  was  soon  in  full  flight.  The  herders  made  no 
effort  to  check  or  control  them,  further  than  to  keep  them  going 
straight ;  they  rode  at  the  head  of  the  column,  one  on  each  side  of 
them,  swung  to  the  right  or  left,  and  keeping  the  trail ;  bluffs  and 
precipices  were  avoided,  and  the  open  flat  ground  courted.  The  run 
lasted  about  two  hours,  when  a  gorge  was  being  neared,  in  which  the 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  585 

cattle  would  crowd  and  break  their  limbs.  They  were  now  quite 
tired,  and  the  herders  determined  to  exert  their  authority  and  stop 
the  run.  The  head  of  the  column  was  bent  out  on  the  prairie,  and 
circled  round  and  round  until  the  cattle  became  tied  up  in  a  huge 
ball  and  could  not  move  at  all.  In  this  way  they  were  obliged  to 
stay  till  morning,  the  herders  riding  round  and  round  them,  and 
keeping  them  completely  tied  up.  At  daylight  they  were  allowed  to 
"open  out."  First,  the  outer  edge  scattered,  and  then  layer  after 
layer,  until  the  huge  pile  of  beef  was  once  more  a  herd,  grazing  as 
quietly  as  if  nothing  had  happened." 

When  the  train  arrives,  the  cowboys  meet  a  very  difficult  prob- 
lem to  solve ;  viz.,  putting  the  cattle  on  board  the  cars.  Think  of 
enticing  or  driving  a  wild  steer  into  a  car  !  The  average  steer  is  not 
drawn  naturally  toward  a  railroad  train.  To  him  the  car  is  a  "  new- 
fangled notion,"  which  has  no  attractions  for  him.  He  protests 
against  such  a  mode  of  conveyance,  and  sets  up  his  Ebenezer,  as  wild 
steers  only  can.  But  the  cowboys  know  their  business,  and  they 
know  their  steers,  too.  Brute  force  always  surrenders  to  intellectual 
power.  The  cowboy  conquers  in  the  end. 

It  is  hard  work  —  indeed,  the  whole  cattle  business  is  hard  work ; 
and  the  boys  never  have  harder  work  than  they  do  between  the  time 
of  herding  the  cattle,  and  delivering  them  at  Kansas  City  or  Chicago. 
For  the  cattle  must  not  be  allowed  to  lie  down.  A  car  will  hold 
from  eighteen  to  twenty-two  animals,  in  the  standing  posture ;  and, 
if  one  lies  down,  the  cowboy,  on  the  alert  both  night  and  day,  must 
punch  the  animal  up.  If  one  lies  down,  others  will  trample  on  him. 
Of  course  there  is  no  sleep  for  the  cowboy  on  the  way  to  market. 
Day  and  night  are  alike  to  him.  When  the  destination  is  reached,  it 
is  difficult  to  tell  which  is  in  the  most  pitiable  condition,  the  cowboy 
or  the  cow.  This  is  especially  true  when  the  distant  market  sought 
is  Chicago.  Most?  of  the  cowboys  declare,  when  the  trip  is  accom- 
plished, "  Never  catch  me  in  that  business  again  "  ;  but  they  forget 
the  hardships  before  the  next  annual  market  season,  and  play  the 
heroic  over  again. 

"  Blabbing  calves,"  as  it  is  called,  is  a  method  adopted  to  wean  a 
calf  when  the  mother  is  growing  thin.  "  A  '  blab  '  is  a  piece  of  thin 
board,  six  inches  by  four  inches,  which  has  a  piece  cut  out  of  the 
middle  of  one  of  the  longer  sides,  so  shaped  that  you  can  just  force 
it  on  to  the  membrane  that  divides  the  nostrils  of  a  calf.  When  put 
on,  it  hangs  down  over  the  mouth  of  the  animal  so  that  it  cannot 
suck,  but  is  able  to  graze  without  difficulty.  When  you  start  out  on 


586 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


a  blabbing  expedition,  you  place  several  blabs  in  your  pocket  and  ride 
along  till  you  see  a  big  calf  whose  dam  looks  as  if  she  would  be  the 
better  for  being  relieved  of  the  support  of  her  progeny.  You  then 
take  your  lariat  off  your  saddle,  and,  holding  it  in  convenient  coils  in 
your  left  hand,  with  the  running  noose  in  your  right,  you  gallop  after 
the  calf  till  you  get  close  up  to  it.  Then  you  whirl  the  noose  round 
your  head  two  or  three  times,  to  get  a  good  swing,  and  launch  it  at 
the  head  of  the  calf.  If  you  are  like  me,  you  will  probably  'find  no 
result,  the  calf  continuing  to  pursue  his  way  across  the  prairie  with 
the  same  vigor  as  before.  Then,  if  you  have  a  professional  cowboy 


CHICAGO  STOCKYARDS. 


with  you,  he  takes  up  the  running,  and  probably  brings  the  calf  to 
book  before  long,  though  even  he  will  not  always  succeed  at  the  first 
throw.  When  you  have  the  calf  roped,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  throw 
him  down  and  stick  the  blab  on  his  nose,  after  which  you  turn  him 
loose  and  go  on  in  quest  of  another." 

Since  the  New  West  contributes  so  largely  to  make  the  stock- 
yards of  Chicago  what  they  are,  we  will  stop  here  to  describe  them. 

The  stockyards  of  Chicago  are  a  cattle  city,  covering  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  laid  out  in  complete  order,  lighted  with  gas, 
supplied  with  pure  water,  with  ample  hotel  accommodations  for 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  587 

cattlemen,  and  connected  by  rail  with  the  entire  railway  system  of 
the  West.  Two  hundred  acres  have  been  covered  with  yards,  pens, 
feed-barns,  scale-houses,  and  platforms  for  loading  and  unloading 
stock.  The  remaining  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  are  covered 
with  railway  switch-tracks,  side-tracks,  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
necting the  marvellous  city  of  live  stock  with  the  railroad  world. 
There  are  seventy-five  miles  of  these  switch  and  side-tracks. 

This  remarkable  city  of  live  stock  has  a  bank,  an  exchange,  tele- 
graph and  telephone  offices,  a  post-office,  and  a  newspaper.  It  has 
thirty-five  miles  of  sewers,  ten  miles  of  streets  and  alleys,  paved 
with  wood,  three  miles  of  water-troughs,  two  thousand  three  hun- 
dred gates,  two  Artesian  wells,  and  a  fire  department. 

An  average  of  seven  hundred  men  daily  is  employed  to  conduct 
the  business  of  the  stockyard  ;  receiving,  yarding,  feeding,  watching, 
weighing,  and  delivering  stock.  Miles  of  elevated  drive-way  have 
been  constructed  for  driving  cattle  and  hogs  over  the  ground  lots, 
pens,  etc.,  from  the  central  portion  of  the  yards  to  the  different 
packing  houses  adjacent,  and  to  the  shipping  departments.  Of 
course,  the  Union  Stockyards  of  Chicago  are  a  marvel  so  unique 
and  remarkable  that  the  sight-seer  who  does  not  visit  them  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  seen  Chicago. 

These  stockyards  were  opened  in  1866,  and  received  that  year, 
393,607  cattle,  961,746  hogs,  207,987  sheep,  1,553  horses,  valued  at 
$42,765,328.  In  1884  the  receipts  were,  1,870,050  cattle,  5,351,967 
hogs,  801,630  sheep,  18,602  horses,  valued  at  $187,387,680.  For 
several  years  past  it  has  taken  200,000  railway  cars  to  transport  all 
the  animals  received  at  the  yards.  The  outlet  for  all  this  stock 
touches  nearly  every  portion  of  the  civilized  world. 

On  Jan.  i,  1885,  $5,000,000  had  been  expended  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Union  Stockyards  ;  and  their  capacity  for  receiving  and 
yarding  stock,  at  any  one  time,  was  20,000  cattle,  150,000  hogs,  10,000 
sheep,  and  1,500  horses. 

From  the  report  of  the  company  for  1885  we  quote  following 
statistics  :  — 

Largest  Receipts  of  Stock  in  a  Day. 

Cattle,  Aug.  27,  1885 12,096 

Calves,  Sept.  I,  1885 1,773 

Hogs,  Dec.  5,  1884 66,597 

Sheep,  Feb.  24,  1885 10,937 

Horses,  Oct.  5,  1874 460 

Cars,  Dec.  10,  1884 1,522 


588 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Largest  Receipts  of  Stock  in   One   Week. 

Cattle,  week  ending  Oct.  20,  1883      . 52,192 

Calves,  week  ending  Sept.  12,  1885 4,369 

Hogs,  week  ending  Nov.  20,  1884 300,488 

Sheep,  week  ending  Dec.  19,  1885 32,027 

Horses,  week  ending  March  26,  1881 1,125 

Cars,  week  ending  Dec.  6,  1884 6,964 

Largest  Receipts  of  Stock  in   One  Month. 

Cattle,  October,  1883 217,791 

Calves,  September,  1885 15,449 

Hogs,  November,  1880 1,111,997 

Sheep,  December,  1885 109,111 

Horses,  March,  1873 4,253 

Cars,  December,  1884 25,387 

Largest  Receipts  of  Stock  in   One   Year. 

Cattle,  1885 L    .    .     .    .  1,905,518 

Calves,  1885 '58,500 

Hogs,  1880 7.059,355 

Sheep,  1885 1,003,598 

Horses,  1873 20,289 

Cars,  1885 214,146 

Valuation  of  Stock  for   Twenty   Years. 

1866 $42,765,328  1876 $111,185,650 

1867 42,375,241  1877 99,024,100 

1868 52,506,288  1878 106,101,879 

1869 60,171,217  1879 114,795,834 

1870 62,090,631  1880 143,057,626 

1871 60,331,082  1881 183,007,710 

1872 87,500,000  1882 196,670,221 

1873 91,321,162  1883 201,252,772 

1874 115,049,140  1884 187,387,680 

1875 "7.533,942  1885 173,598,002 

Total $2,247,725,506 

Average  weight  of  hogs,  1 885 239  Ibs. 

How  it  is  that  cattle  can  be  exposed  through  the  extreme  cold  of 
winter  and  not  perish  in  the  most  northern  latitudes  of  the  New 
West  is  an  enigma  to  many.  Perhaps  the  following  brief  statement 
from  the  Bismarck  Ttibune,  concerning  the  cattle  business  in  Mon- 
tana and  Dakota,  will  throw  light  upon  the  subject :  — 

"  It  is  now  conceded  that  Montana  and  a  portion  of  Dakota  is  the 
greatest  stock  region  in  the  world.  The  country  is  rolling,  and  the 
cattle  find  excellent  shelter  from  severe  storms  which  sometimes 
prevail.  The  snow-fall  is  light  and  the  snow  is  dry.  No  crust  forms, 
and  cattle  do  not  freeze  their  feet,  as  is  the  case  in  Kansas  and 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  589 

Nebraska,  where  sleet  storms  are  frequent.  At  no  time  in  the 
winter  does  the  snow  cover  entirely  the  cured  grasses  of  the  Mon- 
tana ranges.  Cattle  have  no  trouble  to  get  enough  to  sustain  life 
and  even  get  fat.  In  Kansas  frequently  the  backs  of  the  cattle  are 
covered  with  ice  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  or  two,  and  the  wet  snow 
4  balls '  on  their  feet.  A  severe  cold  snap  comes,  and  the  animals 
die  from  exhaustion  and  frozen  feet.  Montana  and  Dakota  has  been 
the  winter  home  of  buffalo  for  years,  and  wherever  they  live  and 
thrive,  there  also  will  cattle  do  well." 

The  Pioneer  Press  speaks  of  the  Northwestern  stock  ranges  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Persons  uninformed  as  to  the  nature  of  the  country,  and  know- 
ing that  the  cold  has  been  extreme  throughout  the  Northwest  this 
winter,  are  apt  to  refuse  credence  to  the  statement  that  the  loss  of 
animal  life  on  the  Montana  and  Dakota  ranges,  so  far,  has  been 
slight,  and  the  prospects  are  good  for  successful  wintering  of  stock 
through  the  remainder  of  the  season.  Those  who  know  the  peculiar 
adaptability  of  the  country  in  question  to  stock-raising  are  not  sur- 
prised at  the  small  loss  of  life  reported.  Montana  and  Dakota 
beeves  have  far  better  chances  to  pull  through  the  severest  weather 
safely  than  their  brethren  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  the  statistics 
show  that  the  amount  of  loss  in  the  former  is  not  nearly  so  large  as 
in  the  latter  division.  In  the  Northwestern  Territories  the  ground 
used  for  ranges  is  broken  by  coulees  and  ravines,  which  afford  per- 
fect protection  from  the  wind,  no  matter  how  fiercely  it  rages  on  the 
plains  above.  Cattle  are  like  men  in  that  they  can  stand  a  terrific 
degree  of  still  cold,  but  when  exposed  to  storm  perish  quickly.  In 
portions  of  Montana,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  winter  season  is  far 
shorter  than  it  is  farther  south,  since  the  chinook  winds,  which  often 
commence  early  in  February,  divest  the  ground  of  snow,  and  leave 
the  succulent  buffalo  grass  exposed  and  easy  picking.  The  coulees, 
too,  are  not  all  drifted  full,  many  of  them  showing  drifts  on  one  side 
only,  while  the  other  is  bare,  or  so  nearly  so  that  acclimated  cattle 
will  paw  the  snow  aside  readily  and  graze  with  little  hindrance.  The 
grazing  country  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas  is  far  flatter  than  that 
further  north,  the  wind  gets  a  wider  and  longer  sweep,  and  the  thin 
belts  of  timber  along  the  streams  are  but  little,  if  any,  protection. 
Besides,  the  upper  animals  are  inured  to  colder  weather  and  will 
thrive  in  a  temperature  which  would  be  certain  death  to  the  hardiest 
of  Kansas  or  Nebraska  steers.  Any  honest  ranchman,  from  north 
or  south,  will  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  these  statements." 


590 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


In  estimating  the  profits  of  stock-raising  in  the  New  West,  it  is 
usual  to  deduct  five  per  cent  for  losses  by  the  cold  of  winter.  But, 
in  ordinary  winters  the  average  loss  will  not  be  more  than  two  or 
three  per  cent.  In  winters  of  great  severity,  the  losses  will  run  up 
to  ten,  fifteen,  and  even  thirty  per  cent ;  but  such  winters  are  in- 
frequent. A  stockman  writes  :  — 

"  As  the  days  grow  warmer,  an  annoying  insect  called  the  '  heel- 
fly  '  makes  its  appearance.  The  cattle  are  in  great  dread  of  this  pest, 


HAULING  A  COW  FROM  THE   MIRE. 

and  the  instant  an  animal  feels  one,  it  hoists  its  tail  in  the  air  and 
takes  a  bee-line  for  the  nearest  water.  Now  a  good  many  of  the 
streams  and  water-holes  in  that  part  of  the  country  have  very  miry 
bottoms,  so  that  a  cow  plunging  violently  in  is  very  apt  to  stick 
there,  and,  unless  assisted  out,  will  certainly  perish.  Often  more 
cattle  are  lost  in  that  way  than  from  all  other  causes,  and  it  is  advisa- 
ble during  the  spring,  and  especially  during  the  heel-fly  season,  which 
fortunately  does  not  last  longer  than  three  weeks,  to  ride  along  the 
dangerous  places  in  a  range  every  day.  When  a  cow  is  discovered 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  591 

mired  down,  two  or  three  men  throw  their  lariats  over  her  horns 
(if  she  has  none,  then  over  her  neck),  and  taking  two  or  three  turns 
with  the  rope  round  the  horns  of  their  saddle,  drag  her  out  on  terra 
firma.  If  she  has  not  been  in  very  long,  she  generally  goes  off  all 
right ;  but  if  she  has  been  in  a  sufficient  time  to  become  thoroughly 
chilled,  she  will  probably  die.  Sometimes  her  legs  are  so  benumbed 
that  she  has  to  be  assisted  up  before  she  can  stand,  and  when  this 
happens,  frequently  the  first  thing  which  she  does  when  she  finds 
herself  on  her  feet  is  to  put  down  her  head  and  charge  her  deliverers. 
But  in  her  weakened  condition  it  is  easy  enough  to  get  out  of  her 
way,  and  she  either  falls  down  in  her  further  attempt  or  abandons 
the  chase."  Of  the  Texas  fever,  he  remarks  :  — 

"  Texas,  or  Spanish  fever,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  in  a  very  curi- 
ous disease.  It  usually  originates  with  cattle  that  have  come  up 
from  Southern  Texas.  .  .  .  But  the  peculiarity  about  Texas  fever  is 
that  the  originators  of  it  do  not  die  from  it  nor  even  appear  to  be 
diseased.  When,  however,  any  of  the  '  graded  '  cattle  come  in  con- 
tact with  one  of  those  fever-breeding  herds,  or  even  graze  over  the 
ground  along  which  one  has  passed,  it  may  be  weeks  previously, 
sickness  and  death  are  sure  to  follow.  The  better  bred  an  animal  is, 
the  more  liable  is  he  to  the  disease.  Texas  cattle  that  have  been 
wintered  in  Kansas  sometimes  show  symptoms  of  disease  after  being 
exposed  to  the  contagion  of  a  herd  from  the  south,  but  they'usually 
soon  recover,  while  in  a  herd  graded  up  with  short  horn  or  other  fine 
blood  mortality  is  often  considerable.  But  an  animal  that  has  thus 
caught  the  disease  cannot  communicate  it  further.  It  never  spreads 
beyond  those  that  have  received  the  contagion  directly  from  the 
Texas  herd.  Consequently  the  fears  sometimes  expressed  that  Texas 
fever  might  be  imported  into  England  are  perfectly  groundless." 

The  prairie  fire  is  a  foe  to  stock-raising,  endangering  often  both 
ranch  and  herds  and  flocks.  A  Dakota  newspaper  describes  a  prairie 
fire  in  that  territory  thus  :  — 

"  Last  Sunday  evening,  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  western 
horizon,  a  fire  was  noticed  encircling  this  place,  and  at  no  greater  dis- 
tance than  twenty  miles  to  the  north  and  west.  The  scene  that  immedi- 
ately followed  was  too  horrible  to  be  thought  lightly  of.  The  whole 
heavens  seemed  as  one  mass  of  seething,  hissing  fire.  The  roar  that 
accompanied  the  flames  as  they  darted  upward,  was  enough  to  startle 
the  pioneer  and  completely  shatter  the  bold  and  fearless  tenderfoot. 
The  dense  cloud  of  smoke  that  hovered  above  the  fire  sent  huge  coils 
upward  that,  as  the  flare  of  the  flames  showed  against  them,  pictured 


592  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

to  the  beholders  standing  below  and  shivering  with  fear,  grimacing 
demons  as  they  flitted  about  in  their  aerial  home  in  the  skies. 

"  A  cry  was  raised,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  citizens  had  turned 
out  en  masse  with  wet  bags  and  coal  oil  torches,  and  going  to  the 
north  and  northwest  limits  of  the  town  along  the  wagon  trail  leading 
west,  immediately  plied  the  torches.  The  grass  went  off  like  powder, 
burning  a  back-fire  twenty  feet  wide  in  an  instant,  reaching  nearly  a 


A  PRAIRIE  FIRE. 

half-mile.  Then  to  meet  the  creeping  flames  approaching  from  the 
north,  a  double  back-fire  was  started  by  the  torchmen,  and  had  just 
been  completed  when  the  roar  of  the  flames  was  heard  ascending  the 
hill  —  only  in  a  moment  to  flash  in  the  tall  grass  and  meet  the  back- 
fire with  the  swish  peculiar  to  the  concussion  following  the  discharge 
of  a  cannon.  The  fire  to  the  west  was  then  about  two  miles  distant, 
but  nearing  at  the  rate  of  about  eighteen  miles  an  hour ;  and  when 
the  north  fire  had  been  safely  met,  all  hands  went  to  the  southwest 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RA/SING.  593 

trail,  running  to  about  twenty  yards  north  of  the  new  school-house, 
and  started  a  back-fire  on  the  north  side  of  the  trail,  and  then  bring- 
ing the  fire  over  the  trail,  it  was  left  to  burn  around  the  south  side  of 
the  school-house,  being  watched  by  eight  or  ten  to  prevent  the  fire 
spreading  to  the  building.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  though  the 
blaze  would  get  the  best  of  them,  but  the  wet  sacks  were  applied  and 
the  flames  subdued.  Others  parties  were  sent  in  different  directions 
and  succeeded  in  checking  the  fire.  The  damage  done,  however,  was 
estimated  at  $10,000." 

When  such  a  fire  is  started  near  the  stockman's  ranch  or  herd, 
everything  is  in  peril.  A  woman  on  a  ranch  was  asked  by  a  visitor 
from  the  East,  ''What  are  your  precautions  against  fire?"  She 
replied  :  — 

"  A  can  of  kerosene  and  a  bundle  of  matches  to  set  back-fires  with, 
though  the  fire-guards  of  ploughed  ground  that  you  have  seen  all  round 
the  ranch  are  the  ounce  of  prevention,  better  than  any  cure.  Then 
we  always  keep  a  hogshead  full  of  water  at  the  stable,  ready  for 
carting  to  the  spot." 

"  A  hogshead  of  water !  What  good  can  a  hogshead  of  water  do 
against  a  prairie  fire  ? " 

"  Oh,  we  don't  put  it  on  with  a  hose,  I  assure  you.  My  imagina- 
tion gasps  at  the  conception  of  managing  a  prairie  fire  with  a  hose. 
We  dip  old  blankets  and  old  clothes  in  it,  or  boughs  of  tree  if  we  can 
get  them,  and  beat  the  fire  down  with  them." 

"  The  illustration  followed  soon.  All  day  smoke  had  been  drift- 
ing over  Cameiro  (Kansas),  and  at  nightfall  the  scouts  reported  that 
the  whole  force  better  be  put  on.  The  'whole  force'  at  the  mo- 
ment consisted  of  about  twenty  men  who  had  just  come  in  to  supper, 
and  who  started  at  once  in  wagons  and  on  horseback.  Ponies  were 
ordered  after  dinner  for  the  entire  household,  even  the  ladies  riding 
far  enough  to  have  a  view  of  the  exciting  scene,  —  parties  from  New 
York  were  spending  the  summer  here.  There  were  no  tumbling 
walls  or  blazing  buildings,  and  there  was  no  fear  of  lives  being  lost 
in  upper  stories  ;  but  there  were  miles  upon  miles,  acres  upon  acres, 
of  low  grass  burning  like  a  sea  of  fire,  while  in  the  twilight  shadows 
could  be  seen  men  galloping  fiercely  on  swift  ponies,  while  the  slow 
wagons  crept  painfully,  lest  the  precious  water  should  be  spilled, 
from  every  homestead,  each  with  its  one  pitiful  hogshead.  It  seemed 
incredible  that  such  a  mass  of  flame  could  ever  be  put  out  by  such 
a  handful  of  workers  ;  and  it  was  only,  indeed,  by  each  man's  laboring 
steadily  at  his  own  arc  of  the  great  circle,  trusting  blindly  that  others 


594  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

were  at  work  on  the  other  side,  as  of  course  they  always  were,  that 
the  lurid  scene  darkened  down  at  last." 

An  eye-witness  describes  as  follows,  the  way  of  guarding  ranches 
and  stock  against  prairie  fires  :  — 

"  Adjoining  the  sheep  ranch  was  a  cattle  ranch  belonging  to  a 
Swiss  gentleman,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  American  sheep-man,  and 
they  made  a  common  fire-guard  to  go  round  both  their  ranges.  The 
plan  was  to  plough  four  furrows  all  round  the  outside  of  the  ranges, 
and  then  another  ring  of  four  furrows  was  ploughed  inside  the  first, 
at  a  distance  of  about  fifty  yards.  In  order  to  make  the  operation  of 
burning  the  guard  safer,  a  mowing-machine  had  been  run  round  on 
the  outside  of  the  outer  ring  of  furrows  and  on  the  inside  of  the  inner 
ring.  The  total  length  of  the  guard  was  about  seven  miles.  After  the 
ploughing  and  mowing  were  done,  we  proceeded  to  burn  the  guard. 
Two  men  fired  the  grass  along  the  two  sets  of  furrows,  the  furrows 
preventing  the  fire  from  getting  into  the  range  or  out  to  the  open 
country.  Behind  the  men  firing  came  two  men  with  wet  sacks,  with 
which  to  beat  out  the  fire  in  case  it  showed  any  inclination  to  jump 
the  furrows.  A  fifth  man  drove  a  wagon  which  contained  a  tub  of 
water  in  which  to  wet  the  sacks  from  time  to  time.  The  man  firing 
on  the  leeward  side  of  the  guard  would  always  precede  the  other  by 
a  little,  so  that  when  the  flame  was  swept  across  by  the  wind  it 
might  be  met  by  the  back-fire  from  the  leeward  furrows,  which  would 
prevent  so  much  danger  of  its  getting  over  into  the  grass  beyond  the 
guard.  Of  course  it  would  not  be  safe  to  attempt  to  burn  the  guard 
when  the  wind  was  at  all  strong.  The  fire-guard,  when  completed, 
presents  a  barrier  of  bare  ground  to  an  approaching  prairie  fire,  which 
the  latter  is  unable  to  cross  for  lack  of  combustible  matter  to  feed  on. 
It  has  to  be  renewed  every  autumn,  as  during  the  spring  and  summer 
it  becomes  overgrown  with  grass  again." 

THE   SHEEP  RANCH. 

It  is  claimed  by  many  that  raising  sheep  is  more  profitable  than 
raising  .cattle.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  the  sheep  business  of 
the  New  West  has  become  very  extensive.  Flocks  of  from  one  to 
ten  thousand  are  numerous.  They  multiply  very  rapidly,  so  that 
a  flock  of  one  thousand  is  doubled  and  trebled  in  a  marvellously  brief 
period.  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  four  hundred  and  fifty  million 
sheep  in  the  world,  and  that  about  one-seventh  of  them  —  (66,000,000) 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


595 


sixty-six  million  —  are  raised  in  the  United  States.  Of  this  number 
the  New  West  has  its  full  share. 

We  have  collected  estimates  of  the  profits  of  sheep-raising  from 
various  sources,  to  which  we  shall  first  call  attention. 

Mr.  Hayes  has  the  following  in  Harper 's  Monthly  of  January,  1880, 
and  he  says  of  the  figures  :  — 

"  They  apply  to  the  case  of  a  man  with  capital,  coming  out,  not  to 
take  up  or  pre-empt  land,  but  to  buy  a  ranch  ready  to  his  hand. 

"  Such  a  one,  capable  of  accommodating  five  thousand  head  of 
sheep,  could  be  had,  say,  for  $4,000,  comprising  at  least  three  claims 
three  to  five  miles  apart,  also  proper  cabins,  corrals,  etc.  A  flock  of 


j^fim^^^^^js^^^ 

!§  - :  iiliil^K 


SHEEP  RANCH. 


two  thousand  assorted  ewes,  two  to  three  years  old,  should  be  bought 
at  an  average  of  $3  each,  say  $6,000  ;  and  60  bucks  at  an  average  of 
$30,  or  $1,800.  A  pair  of  mules  and  a  saddle-horse  will  cost  $275  ; 
and  we  will  allow  for  working  capital,  $1,925.  Capital  invested,  say, 
Oct.  i,  $14,000. 

"  Under  ordinarily  favorable  circumstances,  and  with  great  care, 
one  may  expect  during  May  his  lambs,  and  estimate  that  there  will 
be  alive  of  them  at  time  of  weaning  a  number  equal  to  seventy-five 
per  cent  of  his  ewes,  or,  say,  one  thousand  five  hundred,  on  the  ist 
of  October,  a  year  from  the  time  of  beginning  operations. 

"  His  gross  increase  of  values  and  receipts  will  then  be,  for  that 
year,  as  follows  :  — 


596 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


1,500  lambs  (average  one-half  ewes,  one-half  wethers),  at  $2  each $3,000.00 

In  June  he  will  shear  his  wool,  and  get  from  : 

2,000  ewes,  5  pounds  each,  or  10,000  pounds,  at  21  cents      .     .     .     $2,100.00 

60  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1,000  pounds,  at  15  cents    .     .     .    .          150.00       2,250.00 

$5,250.00 
Expenses: 

Herders,  teamsters,  cook,  and  provisions $1,835.00 

Shearing  2,060  sheep,  at  6  cents 123.60 

Hay  and  grain 275.00 

$2,233.60 
Losses  (all  estimated  as  made  up,  in  money)  :  » 

Ewes,  4  per  cent  on  $6,000 $240.00 

Bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $1,800 90.00          330.00 

Depreciation  : 
On  bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $  1, 800 90.00       2,653.60 

Net  profits  for  first  year $2,596.40 

Second  Year. 

The  1,500  lambs  will  be  a  year  older,  and  worth  an  additional  15  per  cent  (or  15 

per  cent  on  $3,000) $450.00 

1,500  new  lambs  will  be  worth,  as  before 3,000.00 

And  there  will  be  of  wool  from  : 

2,000  sheep,  5  pounds  each,  or  10,000  pounds,  at  21  cents  .  .  .  $2,100.00 
1,500  lambs,  4  pounds  each,  or  6,000  pounds,  at  21  cents  .  .  .  1,260.00 
60  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1,000  pounds,  at  15  cents  .  .  .  .  150.00  3,510.00 

$6,960.00 
Expenses  : 

Herders,  etc $2,060.00 

Shearing  3,560  sheep,  at  6  cents 213.60 

Hay  and  grain 350.00 

$2,623.60 
losses  : 

On  ewes,  4  per  cent  on  $6,000 $240.00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $1,800 90.00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent  on  $3,000 210.00          540.00 

Depreciation  : 

On  ewes,  5  per  cent  on  $6,000 $300.00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $1,800 90.00         390.00       3,553-6o 

Net  profits  for  second  year $3,406.40 

Third  Year. 

The  second  year's  lambs  will  be  worth  an  additional  15  per  cent,  or,  say  (15  per 

cent  on  $3,000) $450.00 

There  will  be  1,500  lambs  from  original  2,000  ewes,  and,  say,  from  new  750  ewes 
(one-half  of  1,500),  not  more  than  60  per  cent  in  first  lambing,  or,  say,  450  — 
in  all,  1,950  lambs,  at  $2 3,900.00 

Wool  will  be : 

From  3,500  ewes,  5^  pounds  each,  or  19,250  pounds,  at  21  cents  $4,042.50 
From  1,950  lambs,  4  pounds  each,  or  7,800  pounds,  at  21  cents  .  1,638.00 
From  60  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1,000  pounds,  at  15  cents  .  .  150.00  5,830.50 

$10,180.50 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  597 

Expenses  : 

Herders  and  fodder $2,970.00 

Shearing  5,510  sheep,  at  6  cents 330.60 

New  corrals,  etc 300.00 

$3,600.60 
Losses  : 

On  ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $6,000 $240.00 

On  new  sheep,  4  per  cent  on  $4,500 180.00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent  on  $3,000 210.00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $1,800 90.00          720.00 

Depreciation  : 

On  old  ewes,  10  per  cent  on  $6,000 $600.00 

On  bucks,  20  per  cent  on  $1,800 360.06          960.00       5,280.60 

JNttprofus   or  third  year $4,899.90 

Recapitulation . 

First  year's  profits                $2,596.40 

oec  >nd  year's  profits 3,406.40 

Third  year's  profits 4,899.90 

Total $10,902.70 


An  official  document  from  Idaho  says  :  — 

"  There  are  not  many  sheep  raised  here,  but  the  business  is  a  good 
one.  Some  time  since  I  had  a  conversation  with  a  friend  in  relation 
to  his  experience  in  sheep-raising,  and  learned  the  following  facts  :  — 

In  May,  1877,  he  bough*  404  ewes  and  123  wethers,  at  $3.00  .     .     .     $1,581.00 

In  1878  he  sold  200  at  $3.00 $600.00 

In  1879  he  sold  200  at  $3.00 600.00 

In  1880  he  sold  200  at  $2.50 500.00 

When  talking  with  me  he  had  2,300  for  which  he  had  been  offered  $2.00  each    .  4,600.00 

Total $6,300.00 

Deduct  cost  of  flock 1,581.00 

Profit $4,719.00 

"  During  the  time  he  had  not  purchased  any  sheep,  and  was 
unable  to  tell  the  amount  of  wool  he  had  sold,  but  it  is  fair  to  pre- 
aume  that  the  amount  received  for  the  sale  of  wool  would  more  than 
pay  for  the  labor  of  looking  after  his  flock,  and  the  small  amount 
expended  in  buying  what  hay  was  fed  to  them. 

Mr.  Fossett  says  of  sheep-raising  in  Colorado  :  — 
"  Thus  far,  the  business  of  sheep-raising  in  Colorado  has  been 
very  profitable.  A  flock  of  1,800  ewes,  costing  $4,500,  were  placed 
on  a  ranch  in  Southern  Colorado.  In  eight  years  1,600  sheep  were 
killed  for  mutton,  and  consumed  on  the  ranch,  and  7,740  were  sold 
for  $29,680.  There  are  14,800  head  on  hand,  worth,  at  $3  per  head, 


598 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


$44,400.  The  wool-clips  paid  for  shepherds  and  all  current  expenses. 
The  result  shows  a  net  profit  over  the  original  investment  of  $69,520, 
equal  to  193  per  cent  per  annum  for  eight  years  in  succession.  Per 
contra,  out  of  a  flock  of  1,200  very  fine,  selected  ewes,  worth  $4  per 
head,  800  died  during  a  storm  of  two  days  last  March.  The  400  that 
survived  raised  last  summer  more  than  that  number  of  lambs.  The 
dog  is  a  valuable  auxiliary  in  the  care  of  sheep.  The  '  Scotch  collie ' 
surpasses  all  others  in  his  natural  aptitude  for  this  work,  and  often- 
times one  well-trained  sells  for  $150." 

A  reliable  estimate  from  Montana  shows  the  attractions  of  that 
territory  for  the  sheep-raiser  :  — 

"  Profits  on  wool-growing  are  estimated  by  many  as  greater  than 
on  cattle-raising  ;  and  even  the  more  conservative  breeders  figure  a 
profit  of  from  25  to  35  per  cent  per  annum  upon  all  capital  invested, 
and  all  agree  that  the  wool  clip  will  pay  every  item  of  expense,  leav- 
ing the  increase  a  clear  gain.  The  loss  from  all  causes  is  estimated 
at  from  2  to  3  per  cent.  The  annual  increase  of  flocks  is  placed  at 
48  per  cent,  and  the  increase  of  1,000  ewes,  2  years  old  and  up- 
wards, from  80  to  150  per  cent,  probably  averaging  90  per  cent. 
Sheep  sell  readily  at  from  $3  to  $3.50  per  head.  One  herder  can 
take  care  of  2,000  head.  Sheep-raising  is  emphatically  the  poor 
man's  industry  in  Montana ;  for,  having  a  free  range,  timber  at  hand 
for  construction  of  sheds  and  corrals,  and,  in  fact,  no  capital  needed 
for  running  expenses  after  the  first  season,  he  is  master  of  the  situ- 
ation if  he  can  command  any  sum  from  $500  upwards  for  the  pur- 
chase of  a  small  flock. 

"A  careful  calculation  of  the  profit  on  1,000  ewes  for  a  term  of  5 
years,  made  by  a  prominent  sheep-owner,  shows  the  following :  — 


YEAR. 

EWES. 

INCREASE. 

EWES. 

WETHERS. 

CLIP. 

First  

1,000 

1.175 

l>555 
2,033 
2,660 

7OO 
822 
1,  088 

1.423 
1,862 

350 
411 

544 
711 

93» 

35° 
411 

544 
711 

93i 

$1,000 

1,700 

2,522 

3.710 

5.032 

Second    .... 
Third   

Fourth    .... 
Fifth  

Totals      .... 

5.895 

2,947 

2,947 

$13.964 

Total  wool  clip 
5,895  sheep,  at  $3 
30  Merino  bucks, 
[nterest  on  cash  o 

&i  3.0,64 

17,685 

at  $25     .                                                                   .     .                                   Ten 

btained  for  wo 

ol  .                                                                                 ^,684 

$36,083 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  599 

Investment  and  Expense. 

1,000  ewes,  at  $3 $3,000 

Cabin,  shed,  and  canvas 800 

32  Merino  bucks,  at  $50 1,600 

Herders'  wages  and  board       .     .     .     .     , 2,600 

Taxes  and  minor  expenses 1,000          11,100 

Profit .     .         $24,983 

Another  estimate  from  an  official  document  of  Kansas  is  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  The  following  estimate  of  the  cost  of  a  start  in  sheep-raising  is 
made  officially  in  the  reports  of  the  State,  and  assumes  that  the 
investor  takes  personal  charge  of  the  place,  as  a  man  would  be  likely 
to  do  who  starts  on  a  capital  of  $3,500,  beginning  operations  about 
April  i,  and  performing  most  of  the  labor  necessary  to  produce  the 
crops  himself;  the  purchase  of  sheep  to  be  made  Sept.  15  following, 
by  which  time  preparations  for  shelter  and  feed  are  substantially 
perfected. 

"  If  the  ranchman  desires  a  larger  dwelling  than  the  one  provided, 
the  land  can  be  bought  of  the  railroad  company  on  6  years'  time, 
at  7  per  cent  interest,  thus  reserving  a  larger  portion  of  cash  for 
additional  improvements.  Or,  he  could  purchase  320  instead  of  160 
acres,  as  estimated,  the  annual  payments  on  which  could  be  promptly 
met  from  sales  of  wool,  increase  of  flock,  or  grain  grown,  if  an  addi- 
tional acreage  were  put  under  cultivation.  This  would,  no  doubt,  be 
a  profitable  investment,  as  an  increase  in  value  of  real  estate  is  not 
improbable. 

Investment. 

1 60  acres  of  land,  at  $2.50 §400.00 

House 300.00 

Corrals 100.00 

Windmill,  pump,  and  troughs 125.00 

Team,  wagon,  and  harness 325.00 

Farming  implements 50.00 

500  Merino  ewes,  at  $3 1,500.00 

6  Merino  bucks,  at  $25 150.00     $2,950.00 

Cash 550.00 

Total $3,500.00 

"  On  such  an  investment  a  profit  of  25  per  cent,  exclusive  of  the 
advance  in  the  value  of  the  land,  may  be  counted  upon,  and  a  living 
made  in  the  meantime." 


600  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

A.  S.  Eaton,  of  Russell  County,  Kansas,  says  :  — 

"  A  sheep-master  can  realize  from  40  to  70  per  cent  on  his  invest- 
ment, according  to  the  care  and  attention  he  gives  to  his  flock.  - 
My  sales  last  year,  from  a  herd  of  1,550  sheep,  amounted  for  -wool 
and  sheep  to  $6,116.28.  My  expenses  of  running  the  business,  in- 
cluding taxes,  were  $900.  I  reduced  my  herd  by  250  sheep  ;  but  I 
consider  my  flock  worth  as  much  to-day  as  one  year  ago.  Yet,  de- 
ducting the  amount  that  the' 250  wethers,  were  sold  for,  viz.,  $750, 
would  yet  leave  $4,366.28,  or  some  75  per  cent  on  my  investment, 
ranch  and  all  included." 

The  reader -will  be  interested  in  the  description  of  a  mammoth 
sheep  ranch,  which,  if  not  exactly  embraced  in  the  New  West,  is 
more  nearly  related  to  it  than  to  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

"  The  little  schooner  Santa  Rosa  arrived  in  port  from  Santa  Bar- 
bara a  few  days  ago,"  says  the  San  Francisco  Call.  "  She  comes  up 
to  this  city  twice  a  year  to  secure  provisions,  clothing,  lumber,  etc., 
for  use  on  Santa  Rosa  Island,  being  owned  by  the  great  sheep-raiser, 
A.  P.  Moore,  who  owns  the  island  and  the  80.000  sheep  that  exist 
upon  it.  The  island  is  about  30  miles  south  of  Santa  Barbara, 
and  is  24  miles  in  length  and  16  in  breadth,  and  contains  about 
74,000  acres  of  land,  which  are  admirably  adapted  to  sheep-raising. 
Last  June  Moore  clipped  1014  sacks  of  wool  from  these  sheep, 
each  sack  containing  an  average  of  410  pounds  of  wool,  making 
a  total  of  415,740  pounds,  which  he  sold  at  27  cents  a  pound, 
bringing  him  in  $212,349.80,  or  a  clear  profit  of  over  $80,000.  This 
is  said  to  be  a  low  yield ;  so  it  is  evident  that  sheep-raising  there, 
when  it  is  taken  into  consideration  that  shearing  takes  place  twice  a 
year,  and  that  a  profit  is  made  of  the  sale  of  mutton,  etc.,  is  very 
profitable.  The  island  is  divided  into  four  quarters  by  fences 
running  clear  across  at  right  angles ;  and  the  sheep  have  not  to 
be  herded  like  those  ranging  about  the  foothills. 

"  Four  men  are  employed  regularly  the  year  round  to  keep  the 
ranch  in  order  and  to  look  after  the  sheep  ;  and  during  shearing 
time  fifty  or  more  shearers  are  employed.  These  men  secure  forty 
or  fifty  days'  work ;  and  the  average  number  of  sheep  sheared  a  day 
is  about  ninety,  for  which  five  cents  a  clip  is  paid;  thus,  $4.50 
a  day  being  made  by  each  man,  or  something  over  $200  for  the 
season,  or  over  $400  for  90  days  out  of  the  year.  Although  the 
shearing  of  90  sheep  a  day  is  the  average,  a  great  many  will  go 
as  high  as  no;  and  one  man  has  been  known  to  shear  125.  Of 
course,  every  man  tries  to  shear  as  many  as  he  can,  and,  owing 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  6oi 

to  haste,  frequently  the  animals  are  severely  cut  by  the  sharp  shears. 
If  the  wound  is  serious,  the  sheep  immediately  has  its  throat  cut, 
and  is  turned  into  mutton  and  disposed  of  to  the  butchers ;  and  the 
shearer,  if  in  the  habit  of  frequently  inflicting  such  wounds,  is  dis- 
charged. In  the  shearing  of  these  80,000  sheep,  a  hundred  or  more 
are  injured  to  such  an  extent  as  to  necessitate  their  being  killed ; 
but  the  wool  and  meat  are,  of  course,  turned  into  profit. 

"  Although  no  herding  is  necessary,  about  two  hundred  or  more 
trained  goats  are  kept  on  the  island  continually,  which  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  take  the  place  of  the  shepherd  dogs  so  necessary  in 
mountainous  districts  where  sheep  are  raised.  Whenever  the  ani- 
mals are  to  be  removed  from  one  quarter  of  the  island  to  another, 
the  man  in  charge  takes  out  with  him  several  of  the  goats,  exclaims 
in  Spanish,  "  Cheva  !  "meaning  sheep.  The  goat,  through  its  train- 
ing, understands  what  is  wanted,  and  immediately  runs  to  the  band  ; 
and  the  sheep  accept  it  as  their  leader,  following  wherever  it  goes. 
The  goat  in  turn  follows  the  man  to  whatever  point  he  wishes  to 
take  the  band.  To  prevent  the  sheep  from  contracting  disease,  it  is 
necessary  to  give  them  ^a  washing  twice  a  year.  Moore  having  so 
many  on  hand,  found  it  necessary  to  invent  some  way  to  accomplish 
this  whereby  not  so  much  expense  would  be  incurred  and  time 
wasted.  After  experimenting  for  some  time,  he  had  a  ditch  dug 
eight  feet  in  depth,  a  little  over  one  foot  in  width,  and  one  hundred 
feet  long.  In  this  he  put  six  hundred  gallons  of  water,  two  hundred 
pounds  of  sulphur,  one  hundred  pounds  of  lime,  and  six  pounds  of 
soda,  all  of  which  is  heated  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  degrees.  The 
goats  lead  the  sheep  into  a  corral  or  trap  at  one  end,  and  the  animals 
are  compelled  to  swim  through  to  the  further  end,  thus  securing  a 
bath  and  taking  their  medicine  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

"The  owner  of  the  island  and  sheep,  A.  P.  Moore,  a  few  years 
ago  purchased  the  property  from  the  widow  of  his  deceased  brother 
Henry  for  $600,000.  Owing  to  ill-health,  he  has  rented  it  to  his 
brother  Lawrence  for  $140,000  a  year,  and  soon  starts  for  Boston, 
where  he  will  settle  down  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  still  retains 
an  interest  in  the  Santa  Cruz  Island  ranch,  which  is  about  25  miles 
southeast  of  Santa  Barbara.  This  island  contains  about  64,000 
acres,  and  on  it  are  25,000  sheep.  On  Catanna  Island,  60  miles  east 
of  Santa  Barbara,  are  15,000  sheep.  On  Clementa  Island,  80  miles 
east  of  that  city,  are  10,000  sheep.  Forty  miles  west  of  the  same 
city  is  San  Miguel,  on  which  are  2,000  sheep." 

Sheep  are  raised  both  for  food  and  clothing.     Figures   already 


6O2 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


CAPTAIN  JACK. 


given  show  to  what 
enormous  propor- 
tions the  industry 
has  grown,  with 
plenty  of  room  to 
double,  treble,  and 
quadruple  it.  The 
best  breeds  for  rais- 
ing wool  are  select- 
ed, and  these  are 
tended  with  great 
care  and  study,  so 
that  improvement 
in  breeds  and  meth- 
ods are  marked  and 

rapid.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  sheep  for  yielding  wool  known  to 
herders  is  represented  by  the  cut  above  —  a  ram  of  peculiar  make-up, 
with  a  fleece  of  such  length  and  density  as  to  weigh  from  twenty-two 
to  twenty-five  pounds.  His  sire  was  Captain  Jack ;  hence  the  above  is 
Captain  Jack,  Jr.  He  com- 
bines two  leading  features 
in  Merino  breeding,  length 
of  staple  and  density  of 
fleece,  without  the  usual 
accompaniment  of  super- 
fluous oil,  and  massive 
wrinkles  with  coarse  and 
hairy  folds.  He  weighs 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  and  is  closely 
built  to  the  ground.  That 
God  made  him  for  useful- 
ness there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion ;  for  he  yields  as  good 
mutton  for  eating  as  he 
does  wool  for  weaving  into 
cloth. 

A  great  variety  of  sheep 
are    raised    in    the    New 

West,    so    many    that    we  

shall  not  attempt  to  enum-  SHEEP  SHEARING. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


603 


erate  them  here.  A  variety  of  breeds  from  foreign  countries  adds 
some  of  the  finest  to  Western  flocks.  The  opinions  of  shepherds 
differ  in  respect  to  the  classification  of  different  breeds  of  sheep,  as 
cattlemen  differ  respecting  breeds  of  cattle. 


BAGGING   WOOL   FOR   TRANSPORTATION. 


Shearing  time  is  a  lively  season,  and  sheep-shearers  are  a  unique 
class  of  men.  Some  of  the  California  sheep-shearers  excel  all  others 
in  the  number  they  will  divest  of  their  fleeces  in  a  single  day.  It  is 
claimed  that  some  of  them  will  shear  125  sheep  per  day,  and  that 
the  average  of  shearers  per  day,  in  disposing  of  a  large  flock,  is  90. 


604  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

The  price  paid  for  shearing  is  from  four  to  six  cents  apiece,  aver- 
aging five  cents. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  has  erected  extensive  sheds  for  the 
accommodation  of  wool-growers  and  their  flocks.  These  sheds  are 
erected  at  convenient  stations  along  the  line.  Sheep-raisers  find  it 
more  convenient  to  drive  their  flocks  to  the  railway  station,  and 
shear  them  there,  than  to  shear  them  at  home,  and  transport  the 
wool  thither.  The  plan  has  proved  successful.  The  sheds  are  suffi- 
ciently large  to  accommodate  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  shearers 
at  a  time.  The  railway  company  has  also  built  large  corrals  in  which 
the  sheep  are  folded.  Then  there  are  small  enclosures  for  each 
shearer,  into  which  fifteen  or  twenty  sheep  can  be  put.  When  a 
sheep  is  sheared  the  fleece  is  tied  together  by  the  shearer  and  put 
into  a  bag  hanging  down  from  the  loft.  Every  two  feet  these  bags 
are  hanging,  and  when  they  are  filled,  men  in  the  loft  draw  them 
up,  assort,  weigh,  and  ship  the  wool. 

The  illustration  represents  the  method  of  bagging  wool  for  ship- 
ment. When  the  shearer  has  completed  his  flock,  he  cries  out 
"  check,"  and  a  man  in  waiting  drives  the  sheep  from  the  pen,  and 
other  men  soon  fill  it  up  again  with  another  flock. 

The  sheep  are  counted  after  they  are  sheared.  They  are  driven 
from  the  pen  through  a  small  passage  where  they  are  readily  counted 
before  entering  the  large  corral  beyond.  The  cut  opposite  repre- 
sents the  sheep  going  through  this  passage-way  to  the  large  enclosure. 

A  few  years  ago,  on  July  8,  at  Hugo,  Col.,  twelve  thousand  sheep 
belonging  to  the  Holt  Live  Stock  Company  were  sheared,  and  then 
driven  back  to  the  ranch.  TWELVE  THOUSAND  IN  ONE  DAY  creates 
a  scene  scarcely  second  to  a  " round-up"  for  the  entertainment  of 
spectators ! 

A  writer  rehearses  several  incidents  that  are  instructive  to  readers 
who  desire  to  know  somewhat  of  the  sheep  business.  Speaking  of 
the  eastern  friends  at  the  ranch,  he  says  :  — 

"  One  very  hot  day  they  braved  the  heat  themselves  for  the  sake 
of  going  out  on  the  prairie  to  see  how  sheep  keep  cool.  Instead  of 
scattering  along  the  creek,  seeking  singly  the  shade  of  the  bushes  or 
the  tall  trees  only  to  be  found  near  the  creek,  they  huddle  together 
in  the  middle  of  the  sunny  field,  -more  closely  than  ever,  hang  their 
heads  in  the  shadow  of  one  another's  bodies,  and  remain  motionless 
for  hours.  Not  a  single  head  is  to  be  seen  as  you  approach  the  herd; 
only  a  broad  level  field  of  woolly  backs,  supported  by  a  small  forest 
of  little  legs. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


60S 


"  To  see  the  sheep  go  in  and  out,  night  and  morning,  was  a  never- 
failing  amusement.  Sometimes  the  ladies  wandered  down  to  the 
corrals  at  sunset  to  see  the  herds  come  in,  and  you  would  have  sup- 
posed them  to  be  waiting  for  a  Fourth -of-July  procession  with  ban- 
ners, from  the  eagerness  with  which  they  exclaimed,  '  Oh,  here  they 
come !  there  they  are ! '  as  the  first  faint  tinkling  of  the  bells  was 
heard  in  the  distance.  If  two  herds  appeared  at  once  from  opposite 
directions,  the  one  with  lambs  had  the  'right  of  way/  and  Sly,  the 
sheep-dog,  —  not  the  only  commander-  who  has  controlled  troops  by 


COUNTING  SHEEP. 

sitting  down  in  front  of  them,  —  would  hold  the  other  herd  in  check 
till  the  lambs  were  safely  housed. 

"They  had  arrived  just  in  the  midst  of  lambing,  and  each  herd,  as 
it  came  in  at  night,  would  number  more  than  when  it  went  out  in  the 
morning,  the  little  lambs  that  had  been  born  on  the  prairie  during 
the  day  taking  their  constitutional  of  two  or  three  miles  back  to  the 
corral  that  they  had  never  seen,  as  easily  and  with  as  much  dignity  as 
if  they  had  known  all  about  it  for  years.  At  the  mature  age  of  three 
or  four  days,  however,  some  of  them  would  decide  that  they  preferred 


6o6 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


to  remain  on  the  open  prairie ;  then  woe  to  the  unhappy  herder ! 
Many  and  many  a  night  would  the  ladies  walk  out  to  meet  the  herd, 
on  the  sole  chance  of  seeing  the  inimitable  fun  of  such  a  catastrophe. 
For  pure,  unadulterated  amusement,  I  know  of  nothing  equal  to  wit- 
nessing the  chase  of  a  grown  man  over  a  boundless  prairie  after  a  lit- 
tle creature  less  than  a  foot  long  and  not  more  than  three  days  old. 


THE   RUNAWAY    LAMB. 

The  running  of  a  man  for  his  hat  is  nothing  to  the  entertainment  of 
such  a  spectator ;  the  struggles  of  the  driver  of  a  refractory  mule  are 
nothing  to  the  sufferings  of  such  a  herder.  It  is  martyrdom  without 
any  glory,  and  I  believe  the  lamb  is  seldom  caught  or  tired  out  with- 
out the  aid  01  a  sheep-dog." 

Sheep-raisers  have  exhausted  their  ingenuity  in  devising  the  most 
convenient  methods  for  feeding  sheep.  The  following  cut  is  the 
latest  invention  introduced  into  the  New  West :  — 


MARVELS   OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


607 


"  The  diameter  of  the  rack  is  five  and  one-half  feet ;  height, 
four  feet  nine  inches.  Twenty-two  bars  in  the  outside  rack  ad- 
mit of  twenty-one  sheep  feeding  at  once.  The  bars,  one  and  one- 
half  inches  in  diameter,  are  made  to  turn  easily  in  the  top  and 
bottom  sockets.  There  is  a  space  of  seven  inches  between  the 
outside  and  the  inside  bars ;  the  latter,  thirty-three  in  number,  are 
four  inches  apart  and  a  square  inch  in  size.  Within  this  rank  of 
bars  is  a  wooden  cone,  three  feet  and  nine  inches  in  diameter  at  the 
base,  and  three  feet  high.  This  cone,  with  the  arrangement  which 
holds  the  two  ranks  of  bars  at  the  top  of  the  rack,  forms  the  recepta- 
cle of  the  forage.  A  plinth,  three  inches  wide,  is  attached  to  the  top 
and  another  to  the  bottom 
of  the  rack,  outside  the  exte- 
rior rank  of  bars,  and  com- 
pletes the  whole. 

"  The  following  are  the 
advantages  of  this  rack :  be- 
ing circular,  each  sheep  can 
feed  without  annoying  its 
neighbor,  and  the  ewes  and 
lambs  are  thus  freed  from 
all  chance  of  injury.  The 
bars  revolving  on  their  sup- 
ports, the  sheep  do  not  rub 
their  necks  in  feeding.  If 
the  rack  is  placed  under  a 
shoot  or  trap-door,  the  hay  or 
straw  can  be  dropped  into  it, 
without  falling  on  the  sheep, 

and  thereby  soiling  the  wool.  If,  instead  of  forage,  roots  are  given 
to  the  sheep,  the  bottom  of  the  rack,  with  its  plinth,  forms  a  conven- 
ient receptacle  for  them." 

The  editor  of  the  Journal  of  Agriculture,  speaking  of  the  habits  of 
sheep,  says :  — 

"  Sheep  adapt  themselves  to  a  wider  latitude  than  any  domesti- 
cated animal,  except  dogs.  For  more  than  a  thousand  years  they 
have  been  raised  with  profit  in  Iceland,  where  the  climate  is  so  cold 
that  few  cultivated  crops  can  be  produced.  They  are  also  raised  with 
profit  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia  that  border  on  the 
North  Sea.  Sheep  raising  has  lately  been  undertaken  in  Patagonia 
with  excellent  promise  of  success.  South  Africa  and  all  the  islands 


A    NOVEL  SHEEP   RACK. 


608  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

in  the  Indian  Ocean  are  found  to  be  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of 
sheep.  Spain  and  Asiatic  Turkey  have  long  produced  most  excellent 
wool,  although  the  climate  of  these  countries  is  very  warm.  Sheep 
do  well  in  every  State  and  Territory  in  this  country,  and  are  better 
adapted  to  poor  land  than  any  other  domesticated  animal  except  the 
goat.  There  is  economy  in  keeping  a  few  sheep  in  pastures  that  are 
chiefly  devoted  to  other  animals,  for  the  reason  that  the  former  will 
eat  many  kinds  of  weeds  and  grasses  that  the  latter  will  leave." 

A   WOMAN    ON   A   CATTLE    RANCH. 

This  is  a  veritable  experience  received  from  the  lips  of  the  woman 
herself.  We  do  not  present  it  because  it  is  at  all  exceptional  in 
regard  to  hardships  and  checkered  experiences.  Indeed,  it  is  the 
story  of  one  who  enjoyed  considerable  more  of  privilege  and  comfort 
than  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  average  ranch-life.  She  was  young  in 
years  and  in  matrimony.  Her  husband  bought  out  a  ranchman  in 
the  New  West,  seventy-five  miles  from  the  town  in  which  he  was 
temporarily  sojourning.  He  was  to  remove  thither  to  spend  about 
eight  weeks  in  putting  things  in  running  order,  and  to  establish  him- 
self as  a  cattleman.  His  wife  proposed  to  accompany  him  and  share 
ranch-life  with  him  for  this  brief  period. 

It  was  one  of  the  hottest  July  days  ever  known  in  the  New  West 
when  she  started  with  her  husband  and  one  cowboy  for  the  ranch. 
A  long  drought  had  parched  the  earth,  and  the  streams  on  the  plains 
were  dry,  adding  intensity  to  the  heat  of  the  day.  The  burning  rays 
of  the  sun  beat  down  upon  the  two  occupants  of  the  open  ranch- 
wagon,  and  the  poor  horses  wilted  under  the  great  heat  and  a  heavy 
load.  Not  a  drop  of  water  was  found  on  the  way  until  after  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  lips  of  the  weary  travellers  became 
parched  and  swollen,  and,  but  for  the  free  use  of  lemons,  which  were 
thoughtfully  provided  in  the  morning,  would  have  cracked  and  bled. 
The  sight  of  water  about  four  o'clock  gladdened  man  and  beast. 

One  or  two  hours  later,  on  approaching  a  town  where  they  pur- 
posed to  spend  the  night,  the  wagon  sunk  into  the  mud  to  the  hubs 
of  the  wheels  in  crossing  an  irrigating  ditch.  The  tired  horses  vainly 
tried  to  pull  it  out,  until,  exhausted,  they  refused  to  pull  more,  and 
the  disgusted  stockman  sat  down  upon  the  bank  of  the  ditch,  the 
very  picture  of  despairing  weariness. 

"  Going  to  stay  here  all  night  ? "  inquired  his  better  half  in  a  tone 
that  was  a  cross  between  facetiousness  and  bitter  disappointment. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  •      609 

"I  shall  stay  here  till  help  comes  along,"  answered  the  husband. 
Sure  enough,  within  a  few  minutes,  a  man  with  a  pair  of  horses 
appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  kindly  offered  to  help  our  stockman 
out  of  his  difficulty.  The  four  horses  together  pulled  the  wagon  out 
of  the  mud,  and  on  that  night  our  heroine  slept  upon  a  soft  bed  in 
a  country  inn,  instead  of  under  a  tent.  On  the  following  morning, 
refreshed  and  happy,  and  supplied  with  a  keg  of  water,  that  the  pain- 


GOING  TO   THE 


ful  experience  of  the  previous  day  might  not  be  repeated,  our  trav- 
ellers continued  their  journey.  At  noon  they  came  upon  an  old 
deserted  stable  in  which  the  horses  were  fed,  and  the  travellers  them- 
selves regaled  with  an  ample  lunch.  At  night  they  spread  a  tent, 
and  were  cooking  an  inviting  supper  when  a  thunder-shower  burst 
upon  them  in  great  fury,  deluging  the  tent,  putting  out  their  fire, 
and  spoiling  the  food,  as  well  as  drenching  the  occupants.  Supper- 
less  and  soaked,  they  spread  their  blankets  for.  the  night,  and  lay 
down  to  wakefulness  instead  of  dreams.  However,  they  came  out  of 


6lO  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  hardship  with  flying  colors,  and,  before  noon  on  the  next  day, 
took  possession  of  the  ranch,  and  commenced  ranch-life.  In  a  letter 
to  a  relative,  the  woman  said  :  — 

"  Well,  here  I  am  at  camp,  and  like  it  very  much  so  far.     I  am 

terrible  lonely  to-day.     G •  was  obliged  to  go  away  this  morning, 

and  will  not  be  back  until  to-morrow.     I  am  here  alone  with  Mrs. 

-'s  brother  ...     I  had  nine  and  ten  in  my  family  the  first  two 

days ;  then  four ;  last  night  seven  ;  and  to-day  two.  The  men  have 
now  gone  out  on  the  calf  round-up,  and  will  be  gone  three  weeks, 
probably.  ...  I  cannot  give  you  much  of  an  idea  of  the  camp  here. 
The  house  is  a  good  one,  and  unusually  nice  for  a  cow  camp.  It  is 
stone  inside  and  out,  and  rough  every  way ;  but  we  are  very  com- 
fortable. It  stands  low  down  in  a  gulch,  with  hills  front  and  back, 
which  cut  off  all  views  ;  and  still  it  is  pleasant.  We  have  two  large 
rooms,  now  furnished  with  chairs,  two  home-made  tables,  two  home- 
made bedsteads,  and  empty  boxes  for  additional  conveniences.  .  .  . 
The  flies  here  were  enough  to  craze  one,  but  we  brought  some  net- 
ting with  us,  and  C made  screens  for  the  doors  and  windows,  so 

that  we  are  protected  from  their  raids.  .  .  .  We  have  cows,  ducks, 
hens,  a  dog  nearly  as  large  as  Major,  and  a  nice  cat.  ...  I  have  not 
made  any  butter  yet,  but  shall  very  soon,  for  I  miss  it  fearfully.  I 
have  been  cooking,  cleaning,  and  arranging  things  generally,  but 
shall  have  more  leisure  soon,  as  my  family  will  be  smaller.  One  of 
the  men  helps  me.  He  cooks  for  the  boys  on  the  round-up,  and 
between  helps  me.  I  do  all  the  cooking  except  the  meat.  The  men 
appear  to  think  that  my  bread  and  pies  were  made  to  eat.  I  made  a 
large  loaf  of  brown  bread  for  supper  last  night,  and  the  boys  just 

devoured  it.     Don't  worry  about  my  staying  alone,  for  G says 

he  will  never  leave  me  without  C ,  who  is  trusty,  and  is  hired  to 

work  about  the  house,  milk,  and  do  chores.  Crazy  [the  name  of  her 
pony]  knew  me  when  I  came,  and  behaved  as  cunning  as  ever.  I 
shall  begin  riding  her  soon.  I  would  not  part  with  heir  for  love  nor 
money.  ...  If  you  do  not  hear  from  me  every  week,  don't  worry, 
for  something  may  happen  to  prevent  us  going  to  the  post-office, 
which  is  twenty-five  miles  distant.  But  you  must  write  every  week 
as  usual,  for  it  would  be  disappointing  indeed  to  send  so  far  for  let- 
ters and  find  none.  We  send  to  the  office  once  in  two  weeks  sure, 
and  as  much  oftener  as  we  can.  I  have  nothing  further  to  say,  ex- 
cept that  I  am  getting  along  all  right  —  have  four  in  my  family  now, 
and  one  of  the  boys  helps  me  in  the  house.  All  of  them  are  kind 
and  obliging,  and  never  allow  me  to  bring  a  pail  of  water  from  the 


MARI/EI3  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  6 1 1 

spring."     Of  course,  she  could  not  complain  much  of  great  hard- 
ships. 

The  spring  was  one  of  the  finest  in  all  the  New  West,  with  a 
house  over  it,  and  a  small  pond  behind  it,  into  which,  at  times,  the 
overflow  empties.  There  was  a  barn,  shed,  and  henhouse,  also,  with 
two  corrals.  A  tent  was  also  spread  on  the  grounds  to  accommodate 
the  overflow  of  cowboys  and  visitors  at  night.  As  the  hospitality  of 


THEIR    RANCH    HOME. 

that  country  provided  free  beds  and  board  for  transient  comers,  a 
tent  arrangement  was  absolutely  necessary.  From  three  to  twelve 
transient  lodgers  was  often  the  quota  for  whom  provision  was  made. 

"  I  have  cooked  three  dinners  in  a  day,"  she  said  to  the  writer ; 
"the  first  for  the  family  ;  the  second,  one  or  two  hours  later,  for  two 
newcomers  ;  and  I  had  scarcely  washed  the  dishes  after  the  second 
dinner,  when  a  fresh  arrival  of  another  man  made  a  third  dinner 
necessary." 


6l2  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Ham,  codfish,  fresh  beef  and  veal,  venison,  poultry,  antelope,  and 
rabbits,  supplied  the  larder  with  a  variety  of  meats  that  would  be 
luxurious  in  the  East,  —  not  all  at  the  same  time,  of  course,  but  as 
circumstances  favored.  Sometimes  the  bill  of  fare  was  reduced  to 
ham  or  codfish  without  potatoes  or  any  other  vegetable.  As  it  was 
the  ranchman's  first  season,  begun  in  July,  he  had  no  garden,  and 
therefore  no  vegetables,  except  when  they  were  purchased  at  the 
nearest  market,  from  forty  to  sixty  miles  away.  Sometimes,  how- 
ever, a  neighboring  ranchman,  coming  that  way,  would  bring  them  a 
welcome  present  from  his  garden.  Tea  and  coffee,  especially  the 
latter,  were  prominent  in  the- daily  bill  of  fare. 

The  nearest  neighbors  (all  of  the  masculine  gender)  were  eighteen 
miles  distant,  and  the  nearest  woman  thirty  miles  away.  Of  the 
latter  our  heroine  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  There  are  several  women  at 

,  but  I  think  they  must  be  stuck-up,  for  they  have  not  called 

upon  me  yet,  and  they  are  only  thirty  miles  from  here." 

The  following  extracts  from  her  letters  to  a  relative  will  furnish 
still  more  interesting  information  of  a  woman's  life  on  a  ranch  :  — 

"  The  round-up  reached  here  on  Saturday,  and  we  have  been  full 
ever  since,  —  nine  all  the  time,  and  twelve  last  night  in  my  family. 

"  G is  going  away  again  this  week.  He  is  going  to ,  two 

hundred  miles  distant,  to  buy  horses.  I  expect  he  will  be  gone  ten 
days,  perhaps  longer.  I  dread  it  very  much.  There  will  be  two  men 
here,  but  it  will  be  lonely  enough  even  then. 

"  I  climbed  the  Buttes  last  week.  They  are  over  a  hundred  feet 
high,  made  of  clay  or  adobe,  the  top  being  petrified  like  stone. 

G would  not  go  with  me,  as  he  thought  it  was  too  hazardous. 

In  one  place  we  had  to  pass  round  a  curve  for  fifteen  feet  on  a  shelf 
just  wide  enough  to  stand  upon.  At  another  point  we  had  to  climb 
up  perpendicularly  fifteen  feet,  by  means  of  notches  cut  for  the  feet. 
One  of  the  men  went  with  me  because  G would  not.  My  cour- 
age nearly  failed  me  before  the  feat  was  accomplished,  but  the  splen- 
did view  from  the  summit  paid  me. 

"The  men  kill  many  rattlesnakes  here.  They  killed  twelve  in 
one  day.  At  another  time  they  killed  three  in  half  an  hour.  Ed.  and 
I  were  riding  one  day  last  week,  and  his  horse  stepped  on  one  that 
was  coiled  up.  It  threw  the  snake  over,  and  he  went  into  his  hole 
in  a  hurry.  Our  dog  was  bitten  by  one  a  few  days  ago,  and  his  nose 
was  badly  swollen  for  a  day  or  two,  and  that  was  all.  Rattlesnake 
bites  do  not  injure  dogs, 

"We  do  not  have  fresh  meat  at  all  just  now,  and  ham  is  getting 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING. 


613 


stale  to  me.  Ed.  has  just  killed  a  duck,  and  we  shall  have  that  to- 
morrow. I  am  sick  of  making  biscuit.  I  had  them  three  times  a 
day,  and  from  twenty  to  thirty  each  time. 

"  I  have  a  plenty  of  eggs  and  milk,  and  make  puddings  and 
custards.  I  shall  wash 
to-morrow;  Ed.  will 
help  me,  and  then  wash 
for  the  boys,  and  he 
will  help  me  iron.  He 
is  very  handy  and  very 
willing.  We  miss  veg- 
etables very  much.  I 
would  like  a  cucumber. 
We  had  a  squash  to-day 
that  some  one  of  the 
boys  bought  me,  and  it 
was  nice.  We  have  not 
even  potatoes  now,  and 
I  scarcely  know  how 
fruit  looks. 

"  We  had  fourteen 
letters  in  the  last  mail, 
and  you  may  be  sure 
that  we  enjoyed  them. 
Last  night  Ed.  was 
taken  sick,  fortunately 
after  I  had  retired,  and 
he  had  a  terrible  fit.  I 
could  hear  him  talk 
as  crazy  as  could  be, 
and  it  was  an  hour  be- 
fore he  was  conscious. 
He  came  near  having 
another  this  morning, 
but  we  worked  over 
him  and  prevented  it. 

C takes  care  of  him,  and  I  have  not  been  alone  with  him  at 

all.     I  hope  G will  not  have  to  go  away  again,  but  I  sometimes 

think  if  he  does  I  go  too,  wherever  it  may  be.  ...  Two  of  the  men 
usually  sleep  in  the  house,  —  one  on  the  bed  G—  -  made,  and  the 
other  on  the  floor ;  the  others  sleep  in  the  tent,  which  they  prefer." 


CLIMBING  THE  BUTTE. 


6 14  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  "  Ed."  referred  to  had  a  thrilling  history.  His  father  was  the 
proprietor  of  a  leading  daily  journal  in  a  large  city  of  the  East,  —  a 
man  of  wealth  and  position.  His  mother,  before  her  marriage,  was  a 
professor  in  a  leading  college  for  females,  —  an  accomplished  woman. 
Their  son  had  received  an  excellent  education,  and  was  familiar  with 
the  refinement  and  style  of  wealthy  families  in  a  large  city ;  but  now 
he  was  a  cowboy,  subject  to  terrible  fits,  which  he  claimed  were 
brought  on  "by  smoking  cigarettes."  His  employer  and  wife  had 
no  doubt  that  the  drink-curse  was  the  real  cause  of  his  absence  from 
home.  As  there  were  no  liquors  on  the  ranch,  and  no  place  to  obtain 
them  for  miles,  their  views  on  the  subject  were  not  verified  beyond 
contradiction.  But  on  the  evening  of  his  sickness,  as  rehearsed 
above,  he  went  to  Mrs. and  said  :  — 

"  I  am  going  to  smoke  a  cigarette,  and  I  shall  have  a  fit  after  it. 
You  had  better  retire." 

Scarcely  thinking  that  he  was  in  earnest,  with  a  facetious  remark 
she  bade  him  good  night  and  went  to  bed.  Then  followed  what  she 
described,  in  which  we  see  some  evidence  that  cigarettes  were  the 
cause  of  his  fits,  or  delirium  tremens,  if  that  be  a  more  appropriate 
name.  In  her  next  letter  she  relates  the  outcome  of  Ed.'s  sickness. 

"  I  closed  my  last  letter  rather  hurriedly.  Ed.  grew  worse  steadily. 

The  night  before  G came  he  had  a  terrible  spell.  Twice  we 

thought  he  was  dying.  It  took  C and  I  to  hold  him  on  the  bed. 

The  night  G reached  home  he  had  two  fits.  Two  men  could 

scarcely  hold  him  while  he  was  in  the  first  one ;  but  his  strength  was 
greatly  reduced  when  the  last  one  occurred.  He  suffered  fearfully, 
but  imagined  that  he  was  in  heaven  with  his  mother,  who  died  when 
he  was  too  young  to  remember  her.  The  next  day  he  was  so  weak 
that  two  men  were  obliged  to<  lift  him  into  the  wagon,  and  he  went 
off  crying  as  if  his  heart  would  break.  We  made  him  a  bed  in  the 

wagon,  and  sent  him  to ,  and  from  there  by  rail  to .  C 

went  with  him,  and  has  not  yet  returned.  We  hardly  thought  he 
would  reach  there  alive ;  but  the  man  who  came  back  with  the  team 

said  that  he  was  better  when  he  reached ;  so  we  hope  he  will 

come  out  all  right." 

Just  seven  years  after  the  foregoing  was  written,  in  reply  to  the 
question,  "What  became  of  Ed.?"  this  woman  answered  :  — 

"  Poor  fellow !  we  don't  know.  He  recovered  by  good  medical 

treatment,  and  left ,  and  we  have  never  seen  or  heard  from  him 

since." 

It  is  not  strange  that,  by  this  time,  Mrs.  should  write  to  a 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  615 

friend,  "Certainly  I  have  variety  enough  in  my  life  to  keep  from 
becoming  stagnant." 

More  extracts  from  her  letters  will  afford  the  reader  still  more 
light. 

"  We  have  a  very  nice  cooking-stove,  as  large  as  the  one  in  your 
winter  kitchen.  I  have  made  all  my  bread  so  far  with  baking-powder. 
I  should  think  you  were  crazy  to  ask  what  I  do  with  my  washing. 
Why,  I  wash  it,  iron  it,  wear  it,  and  wash  it  again.  I  have  every 
convenience  for  washing,  and  do  not  lift  a  pail  of  water,  or  turn  the 
wringer,  or  clean  up.  We  have  splendid  water  under  the  spring- 
house,  and  a  half  dozen  other  good  springs  around  us  where  the 
cattle  drink,  and  water-holes  also.  My  kitchen  is  large,  and  I  have 
no  trouble  in  providing  for  all  the  men  by  putting  the  two  tables 

together.     There  is  no  need  of  furnishing  napkins,  for  G and  I 

and  Ed.  are  the  only  ones  of  the  crowd  who  ever  saw  one.  I  made 
four  cream  pies  and  a  cocoanut  pie  yesterday,  and  how  quickly  they 
vanished  before  the  hungry  boys  ! 

"  I  must  stop  at  once,  for  I  hear  a  wagon  ride  up.  ...     It  was 

two  men,  one  from ,  whom  I  was  delighted  to  see.     He  brought 

me  a  bushel  of  potatoes  and  a  parcel  of  beets  and  radishes,  and   I  am 
eating  a  radish  now.      They  are  so  nice !      I  got  them  a  dinner,  — 
hot  biscuit,  venison  steak,  tomatoes,  cream  pie,  and  coffee.     They 
thought  they  would  call  again  when  they  got  hungry. 

"  I  rode  ten  miles  one  day  last  week,  and  saw  three  deer,  —  scared 

them  up  not  ten  feet  off.     We  sent  C out  next  morning  to  shoot 

one,  as  we  were  living  on  bacon  and  codfish,  with  no  potatoes.  He 
killed  one,  and  we  have  feasted  ever  since.  It  is  very  nice  eating. 
The  venison  we  get  is  not  what  you  get  in  the  East. 

"  We  have  any  amount  of  fleas  here,  and  I  am  half  eaten  up  by 
them.  We  have  ants,  also,  but  I  brought  some  borax  with  me,  and 
they  have  disappeared  before  it.  You  ask  me  what  I  wear.  I  wear 
a  shade  hat,  black  Canton,  with  blue  veil  on  it  when  I  ride,  and  my 
scalp  at  other  times. 

"We  have  dug  a  cellar,  or,  what  is  here  called  a  'dug-out,'  in  the 
side  of  the  hill,  which  will  have  a  roof  over  it  soon,  covered  with  dirt. 
It  is  what  they  call  a  cellar  here." 

When  lodgings  were  somewhat  crowded,  one  of  the  men  slept  in 
the  above-mentioned  dug-out.  One  night,  just  before  the  mistress 
of  the  ranch  had  retired,  he  came  rushing  into  the  house  for  his  gun, 
shouting  "  Skunk  !  skunk  !  "  This  disagreeable  animal  was  at  home 
in  that  country,  and,  in  his  peregrinations,  on  that  night,  dropped 


6l6  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

into  the  dug-out,  with  no  expectation  of  meeting  a  cowboy  there. 
But  he  did,  and  actually  travelled  across  his  bed,  startling  the  human 
occupant  of  the  place  by  his  cool  impudence.  The  skunk  was  as 
much  alarmed  as  the  cowboy  in  the  end,  and  fled  to  parts  unknown 
before  the  latter  returned  with  his  gun.  Seventy  skunks  were  shot 
about  the  ranch  from  August  to  November,  proving  that  this  unpop- 
ular creature  thrives  full  as  well  in  the  New  West  as  he  does  in 
the  East. 

Once,  during  her  stay  at  the  ranch,  Mrs. visited with 

her  husband,  nearly  sixty  miles  away,  to  make  some  purchases,  and 
hire  a  tenement.  She  camped  out  one  night  each  way,  going  and 
coming,  and  enjoyed  it  hugely.  On  the  way  back,  she  discovered  an 
antelope  at  a  distance ;  whereupon  her  husband  let  drive  his  six- 
shooter  just  to  see  the  wild  creature  run.  He  was  too  far  away  to  be 
hit,  but  not  too  far  to  be  scared,  the  ranchman  thought.  What  was 

the  surprise  of  Mrs. ,  and  her  liege  lord,  too,  to  see  the  animal 

drop,  and  not  run.  Singularly  enough  the  ball  took  effect  in  the  ante- 
lope's head,  and  he  gave  up  the  ghost.  It  was  an  accident,  however, 
not  the  skill  of  the  ranchman.  The  former  was  not  more  surprised 
to  be  hit  than  the  latter  was  to  be  the  hitter.  The  wild  game  was 
carried  in  triumph  to  the  ranch,  where  hunger  revelled  on  his  carcass. 

Here  are  incidents  sufficient  to  show  the  reader  what  the  best  sort 
of  ranch-life  is  to  an  intelligent  woman.  It  is  crowded  .with  variety, 
the  unexpected,  and  the  marvellous. 

CATTLE  KINGS. 

We  shall  close  this  department  with  the  photographs  and  brief 
biographical  sketches  of  seven  cattle  kings,  as  in  the  third  and  fourth 
departments  we  presented  railroad  and  mining  kings.  While  our 
space  limits  us  to  seven  successful  and  widely-known  cattlemen,  we 
may  say  that  their  number  is  very  large  in  the  New  West.  Intelli- 
gent, enterprising,  and  persistent,  they  have  hewed  their  way  through 
all  opposition  and  difficulties  to  wealth  and  influence.  It  has  been  a 
hard-fought  battle  to  most  of  them,  but  their  victories  are  all  the 
grander  for  that. 

JOHN    H.    ILIFF. 

John  H.  Iliff  was  born  Dec.  18,  1831,  the  son  of  a  well-to-do  farmer 
near  Zanesville,  O.  He  attended  college  at  Delaware,  O.,  after  which 
his  father  offered  to  invest  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  a 


MARI/EI^S  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  6l/ 

farm  for  him,  near  his  own,  if  the  young  man  would  remain  upon  it. 
But  the  son  declined  the  offer,  saying,  "  No,  give  me  the  five  hundred 
dollars  and  let  me  go  West."  Going  to  Kansas,  he  remained  three 
years.  Here  the  Pike's  Peak  gold  excitement  of  1859  found  him, 
and  he  was  among  the  first  to  cross  the  Plains  to  the  new  Eldorado. 
Realizing  that  the  army  of  gold-seekers  must  be  fed,  he  invested  all 
his  means  in  a  stock  of  groceries  and  provisions,  for  which  he  found 
a  ready  market  upon  his  arrival  in  Colorado.  He  engaged  in  business 
in  Denver  for  a  short  time,  but  invested  all  he  had  in  a  small  herd  of 
cattle.  This  herd  he  drove  to  the  northern  part  of  the  Territory  for 
pasturage.  The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  was  being  pushed  westward 
through  southern  Wyoming  with  all  possible  dispatch,  and  at  Chey- 
enne Mr.  Iliff  found  so  excellent  a  market  that  his  herd  of  cattle 
proved  better  than  a  gold  mine.  He  found  a  vast  stretch  of  country- 
reaching  from  the  South  Platte  River  to  Wyoming,  and  from  near  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  Nebraska  —  a  region  larger 
than  Massachusetts  —  occupied  only  by  buffalo  and  antelope.  His 
mind  quickly  grasped  the  possibilities  of  the  situation.  From  this 
time  on  his  course  was  one  of  steady  and  rapid  progress.  He  made 
the  cattle  business  on  the  plains  a  study,  giving  to  it  his  entire  atten- 
tion and  his  best  efforts.  He  mastered  every  detail,  and  as  the  busi- 
ness developed  new  phases  he  was  equal  for  every  emergency.  The 
influence  of  his  life  upon  the  pastoral  interests  of  Colorado  and  the 
West  cannot  be  overestimated.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  owned 
about  twenty  thousand  acres  of  pasturage,  including  some  of  the  finest 
watering-places  and  grazing-valleys  in  the  region  where  his  herds- 
roamed.  These  herds  numbered  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  head, 
from  which  he  marketed  an  average  of  about  thirteen  thousand  head 
per  year.  No  single  individual  has  ever  built  up  or  controlled  so  vast 
a  business  in  live-stock  in  this  Rocky  Mountain  country.  He  was 
temperate  in  his  habits,  loving  and  true  to  his  family,  honest  and  just 
in  his  dealings,  a  desirable  neighbor,  and  a  most  useful  citizen. 

JARED    L.    BRUSH. 

J.  L.  Brush  was  born  in  Claremont  County,  O.,  in  1837,  so  that 
he  is  now  just  fifty  years  of  age,  though  he  is  so  hale,  hearty,  and  vig- 
orous that  he  appears  much  younger.  His  parents  were  in  comforta- 
ble circumstances,  and  afforded  their  son  the  best  opportunity  for 
intellectual  training  which  the  schools  of  that  day  and  locality  pro- 
vided. Being  a  thoughtful,  obedient  youth,  willing  to  work  and  apt 


618  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

to  do,  he  contented  himself  with  remaining  at  home,  working  upon 
the  farm,  and  doing  whatever  else  seemed  to  be  necessary. 

He  was  twenty-two  years  of  age  when  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
Colorado  created  intense  excitement  all  over  the  country.  In  com- 
mon with  thousands  of  young  men,  he  caught  the  excitement,  though 
his  decision  did  not  wholly  contemplate  mining.  He  believed  that 
the  Rocky  Mountain  region  was  opening  a  wide  and  inviting  field  for 
aspiring  young  men  in  various  departments  of  activity.  After  care- 
ful thought  and  investigation  he  decided  to  "go  West,"  and  1859 
found  him  a  citizen  of  what  is  now  the  "  Centennial  State." 

At  first  he  engaged  in  mining,  and  was  the  first  discoverer  of  gold 
in  Russell  Gulch.  His  success,  however,  was  not  particularly  stimu- 
lating, though  his  search  for  gold  was  by  no  means  a  failure.  After 
mining  two  years,  he  purchased  a  farm  and  run  it,  at  the  same  time 
making  two  freighting  trips  annually  over  the  "  plains,"  from  Mis- 
souri River  to  Denver.  For  five  years  he  continued  farming  and 
freighting,  hauling  hay  in  the  winters  to  the  mountain  mining-camps 
for  sale.  He  began,  also,  at  this  period,  to  deal  in  cattle,  and  made 
his  first  purchases  along  the  Missouri  River.  He  commenced  the 
-cattle  business  in  a  small  way,  but  gradually  enlarged  his  trade,  until 
now  his  own  herd  numbers  three  thousand,  and  he  has  a  partnership 
in  sixteen  thousand  more.  His  ranches  are  located  in  the  southeast- 
ern part  of  Weld  County,  Col.  He  removed  to  that  county  in  1862, 
and  has  lived  there  ever  since,  his  business  growing  upon  his  hands 
from  year  to  year. 

In  the  autumn  of  1883,  Mr.  Brush  said  to  the  author,  "  Less  than 
twenty-five  years  ago  I  drove  a  freight  team  over  the  plains."  The 
remark  was  made  to  show  the  marvellous  enterprise  and  progress 
which  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  wrought.  It  required  a  good  share 
of  pluck  to  carry  freight  over  the  "plains  "  at  that  time ;  for  Indians 
were  on  the  alert  with  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife.  The  United 
States  government  was  under  the  necessity  of  maintaining  regiments 
of  soldiers  in  that  region  to  save  freighters  and  others  from  Indian 
massacre.  Mr.  Brush  had  the  usual  experience  of  pioneers  with  the 
Rocky  Mountain  red  men,  escaping  with  his  life  only  because  provi- 
dential events  favored  him.  Even  later,  in  1867,  when  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  cattle  business,  and  had  a  ranch  only  fourteen  miles 
from  the  spot  where  Greeley  was  laid  out  three  years  thereafter,  the 
savages  made  a  raid  upon  his  ranch,  and  killed  twelve  men,  one  of 
whom  was  his  brother.  Mr.  Brush  was  absent  at  the  time ;  had  he 
been  at  home,  he  must  have  shared  the  fate  of  his  cattlemen  ;  and 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  619 

we  should  not  have  had  the  privilege  of  adding  his  portrait  or  sketch 
of  his  life  to  our  collection. 

Mr.  Brush  is  known  as  a  wise,  sagacious  business  man,  the  arti- 
ficer of  his  own  fortune,  honest,  reliable,  and  influential.  He  is 
deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  his  adopted  State,  and  has  repre- 
sented Weld  County  several  times  in  the  Legislature.  He  resides  at 
Greeley,  where  he  is  respected  by  all  who  know  him,  for  his  business 
ability  and  uprightness  of  character.  For  thirty  years  his  life  has 
been  a  checkered  one,  necessarily  involving  many  hardships  and 
struggles ;  but  his  industry,  tact,  perseverance,  and  honesty  have 
won  for  him  success,  and  with  it  the  public  confidence. 


CHARLES    LUX. 

Charles  Lux  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  citizens  of  California, 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  a  few  months  ago.  He  was  born  in  Ger- 
many, in  1823,  and  came  to  this  country  when  he  was  fifteen  years 
of  age.  He  cast  his  lot  in  New  York  City,  where  he  became  a 
butcher-boy,  and  worked  early  and  late  and  hard,  and  laid  up  money. 
The  gold  excitement  lured  him  to  California  in  1850,  and  he  settled 
in  San  Francisco,  where  he  continued  to  work  in  the  butcher's  busi- 
ness for  one  Captain  North.  From  this  time,  his  biographer  in  the 
San  Francisco  Chronicle  shall  describe  his  career :  — 

"To  him  (North)  young  Lux  proved  a  treasure.  He  was  inde- 
fatigable, never  seemed  to  need  sleep,  never  forgot  anything,  never 
was  in  a  bad  temper. 

"  They  worked  together  for  about  a  year ;  then  the  captain,  who 
shared  the  roving  disposition  of  most  Californians  of  that  day,  pro- 
posed to  sell  out  to  his  assistant,  and  the  offer  was  accepted.  The 
butcher's  sign  was  changed  to  Charles  Lux,  and  for  several  years  he 
carried  on  business  there,  making  money  and  friends.  About  1854 
or  1855  he  took  into  partnership  a  man  named  Edmundson,  who  is 
still  alive.  They  embarked  in  the  wholesale  cattle  business  in  a 
small  way  and  did  well.  After  a  year  or  two,  for  some  reason  or 
other,  the  partnership  was  dissolved. 

"It  was  in  1857  that  he  made  his  first  joint  operations  with  Mr. 
Miller.  They  proved  profitable,  and  the  two  men  grew  to  be  inti- 
mate. Striking  contrasts  in  many  respects,  they  were  alike  in  many 
essentials.  Both  were  men  of  sturdy  integrity,  close  habits  of  busi- 
ness, and  that  power  of  concentration  which  secures  fortune,  when 
more  showy  gifts,  dispersed  over  a  wider  range,  might  fail  to  obtain 


620  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

it.  Both  were  Germans.  Mr.  Miller  was  born  in  Giitenburg.  In 
1858  they  formed  a  partnership  under  the  name  of  Miller  &  Lux, 
which  lasted  till  death  dissolved  it  last  week,  and  during  which  not 
one  shadow  ever  darkened  the  brightness  of  their  friendship.  In  the 
previous  year  a  still  more  momentous  change  had  occurred  in  Mr. 
Lux's  life.  A  few  years  previously  a  gentleman  named  Potter  was 
blown  up  and  killed  by  an  explosion  on  board  the  San  Rafael  boat. 
He  left  a  widow  and  son.  The  lady,  whose  early  beauty  is  still 
remembered,  and  the  loveliness  of  whose  character  is  known  to  all 
who  have  the  privilege  of  her  acquaintance,  consented  in  1857  to  ac- 
cept Mr.  Lux's  addresses,  and  they  were  married.  It  was  a  happy 
marriage  for  him.  His  wife,  a  Rhode  Islander,  and  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  made  his  home  bright ;  and  nothing  pleased  him 
better  than  to  place  his  purse  at  her  disposal  for  use  in  the  benevo- 
lent works  in  wrfich  she  has  been  perseveringly  engaged  for  thirty 
years.  There  is  hardly  a  charitable  body  in  the  city  of  which  she  is 
not  one  of  the  trustees  or  patronesses  ;  hardly  one  that  is  unacquainted 
with  Mr.  Lux's  checks. 

"  The  first  important  purchase  which  they  made  was  part  of  the 
Santa  Rita  ranch  in  Merced.  This  was  bought  in  1863  of  Dunphy 
&  Hildred ;  the  amount  of  land  was  two  Spanish  leagues,  eight 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen  acres.  As  the  firm's  stock  of 
cattle  increased,  and  as  neighbors  desired  to  sell,  Miller  &  Lux,  who 
always  kept  ready  money  on  hand,  bought  field  after  field  and  ranch 
after  ranch,  until'  now  the  property  covers  the  enormous  area  of  six 
hundred  thousand  acres,  —  a  principality. 

"  About  the  same  time  Miller  &  Lux  bought  two  adjoining  ranches, 
known  as  the  Dequisquito  ranch,  and  the  La  Marias  Muertes  ranch,  — 
the  one  in  Monterey,  the  other  in  Santa  Clara.     These  were  two  old 
Spanish  grants,  and  embraced  an  area  of  about  twenty-four  thousand 
acres. 

"  The  next  purchase  made  was  the  Canada  de  San  Lorenzo,  in  the 
extreme  southern  portion  of  Monterey  County.  This  property  is 
familiarly  known  as  the  Peach  Tree  ranch.  Since  the  first  purchase, 
Miller  &  Lux  have  added  to  it  as  occasion  offered,  and  it  now  covers 
thirty-five  thousand  acres. 

"  It  was  in  1869  that  Miller  &  Lux  began  the  purchases  of  land  in 
Kern  and  Tulare  counties.  The  purchases  have  been  followed  up  by 
additions  ever  since,  so  that  now  the  Kern-Tulare  ranch  belonging  to 
the  firm  covers  one  hundred  and  fourteen  thousand  acres. 

"These  are  only  some  of  the  lands  owned  by  the  firm  in  this  State. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  621 

They  do  not  include  such  properties  as  Mr.  Charles  Lux's  private 
ranch  of  two  thousand  acres  in  San  Mateo  County,  or  other  pieces  of 
land  in  other  counties.  Outside  of  the  State  Miller  &  Lux  own  the 
Glenn  ranch  in  Humboldt  and  Washoe  counties  —  a  tract  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  acres,  on  which  they  have  a  pretty  bunch  of  cattle. 
This  was  bought  as  long  ago  as  1860-64.  They  also  bought,  in  asso- 
ciation with  a  cattleman  named  Oberfeldt,  a  tract  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand acres,  or  thereabouts,  in  Baker  and  Grant  counties,  Oregon. 
This  controls  a  vast  amount  of  range,  and  feeds  many  thousand  cattle. 

"  These  purchased  lands  do  not  include  the  leased  lands,  which 
cover  a  large  area.  The  firm  pays  not  less  than  $20,000  a  year  for 
lands  which  it  uses  for  pasture;  one  man  alone  receives  $14,000  a 
year  from  this  source. 

"  Turning  now  to  the  use  to  which  this  enormous  landed  estate  is 
put,  it  is  found  that  Miller  &  Lux  own  more  cattle  than  any  one  else 
on  this  coast,  and  probably  more  than  Hunter  &  Evans  of  St.  Louis. 
No  large  cattle-dealer  can  tell  how  many  horned  cattle  or  sheep  he 
owns.  He  can  only  form  an  approximate  estimate.  Thus,  Miller  & 
Lux  have  been  in  the  habit  of  reckoning  that  they  owned  60,000  to 
75,000  cattle,  about  80,000  sheep,  6,000  to  8,000  hogs,  and  'several ' 
thousand  horses.  To  take  care  of  these  the  services  of  800  to  1,000 
men  are  permanently  required. 

"  The  cattle  are  brought  into  the  city  —  a  few  are  sold  to  country 
towns  —  at  the  rate  of  about  1,600  a  month,  and  slaughtered  here  in 
the  three  slaughter-houses  owned  by  the  firm  in  Butchertown.  Be- 
sides steers,  Miller  &  Lux  kill  6,000  or  7,000  sheep  a  month,  and 
about  2,000  hogs.  Thus  they  supply,  to  feed  this  city,  an  average  of 
52  steers,  200  sheep,  and  70  hogs  daily. 

"  It  need  hardly  be  said  that,  with  such  a  business,  Mr.  Charles 
Lux  died  rich.  It  is  very  difficult  to  estimate  the  value  of  an  es- 
tate so  large  and  so  widely  scattered  as  his.  To  administer  it  suc- 
cessfully requires  a  great  deal  of  work.  There  are  few  men  with 
large  amounts  of  money  who  are  willing  to  put  in  the  work  necessary 
to  conduct  such  a  business.  If  it  were  realized  gradually,  as  occasion 
offered,  it  would  probably  be  found  to  be  worth  something  between 
four  and  five  millions. 

"  Mr.  Lux  was  always  in  a  good  temper,  always  smiling,  with  a 
pleasant  word  for  every  one,  and  his  serenity  went  below  the  surface. 
He  never  broke  up  a  butcher  because  he  could  not  pay;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  he  invariably  kept  on  supplying  tradesmen  whom  he  knew 
to  be  insolvent,  and  when  he  felt  reasonably  certain  that  he  would 


622  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

never  get  paid.  He  was  always  on  the  lookout  to  help  somebody. 
To  the  members  of  his  own  family  in  New  York  and  Germany,  and 
to  the  relatives  of  his  wife,  he  ever  acted  the  part  of  a  generous, 
whole-souled  father." 

R.    G.    HEAD. 

R.  G.  Head  was  born  in  Saline  County,  Missouri,  in  1847,  and  is 
now  in  his  fortieth  year.  When  six  years  old  his  father  moved  from 
Missouri  to  Caldwell  County,  Texas.  When  thirteen  years  of  age 
young  Head  entered  the  employ  of  Bullard  &  McPhetridge,  drovers, 
who  were  preparing  to  move  a  herd  of  cattle  to  Missouri,  receiving 
thirteen  dollars  per  month  salary.  The  breaking  out  of  the  war  pre- 
vented the  drive,  and  the  herd  was  disposed  of  to  the  Confederate 
government.  Between  the  age  of  eleven  and  thirteen  he  received 
the  benefit  of  some  nine  months'  attendance  at  the  public  schools, 
which  is  the  sum  total  of  educational  advantages  enjoyed  by  him.  He 
remained  on  his  father's  farm,  or  ranch,  until  about  sixteen  years  old, 
when  he  entered  the  Confederate  service,  and  served  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  Returning  home,  he  worked  one  year  upon  a  farm  and 
then,  entered  upon  the  remarkably  successful  career  which  brought 
him  to  the  position  he  now  holds  among  the  stockmen  of  our  country. 
He  was  not  quite  nineteen  years  old  when  he  entered  the  service  of 
Col.  John  J.  Myers,  the  pioneer  drover  of  Texas,  who  drove  the  first 
herds  to  Abilene,  Kansas,  which  place  was  then  a  mere  post,  con- 
taining but  half  a  dozen  habitations.  Mr.  Head  camped  a  herd  of 
cattle  on  the  spot  where  the  city  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  now  stands, 
when  not  a  white  man  resided  there,  but  as  many  Indians  as  there 
are  now  white  inhabitants.  He  began  his  service  with  Colonel  Myers 
on  a  salary  of  $30  dollars  per  month,  which  was  steadily  advanced 
until  the  third  year,  when  he  took  entire  control  of  his  employer's  trail 
business  at  a  salary  of  $1,800  per  year  and  expenses.  He  continued 
with  Colonel  Myers  for  seven  years,  during  which  time  he  drove  herds 
to  Abilene,  Wichita,  Great  Bend,  Ellsworth,  and  Dodge  City,  Kansas  ; 
and  also  to  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  the  Humbolt  River 
in  Nevada,  and  across  to  California,  also  to  the  various  Indian  agen- 
cies on  the  upper  Missouri  River  and  Black  Hills  country.  His 
business  relations  with  Colonel  Myers  were  terminated  in  1873  by  the 
death  of  the  latter  gentleman.  In  1875  he  assumed  the  general 
management  of  the  extensive  cattle  business  of  Ellison,  Deweese,  & 
Bishop,  of  San  Antonio,  Texas,  handling  from  30,000  to  50,000  cattle 
annually.  In  the  spring  of  1878  the  last-named  firm  dissolved,  and 


CATTLE   KINGS. 


624  MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

Mr.  Head  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Bishop,  member  of  the  old 
firm  above,  for  the  handling  of  cattle  on  the  ranch  and  trail.  The 
firm  of  Bishop  &  Head  existed  until  1883,  when  the  prevailing  high 
prices  induced  Mr.  Head  to  insist  upon  a  sale  of  the  partnership  prop- 
erty, which  was  accomplished  over  the  friendly  protest  of  Mr.  Bishop. 
In  May,  1883,  he  accepted  the  management  of  the  business  of  the 
Prairie  Cattle  Company,  the  largest  company  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 

He  filled  this  position  for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  mar- 
keted from  the  ranches  of  the  company  over  54,000  cattle,  netting 
over  $1,300,000,  and  branded  for  the  company,  from  its  herds,  more 
than  83,000  calves,  and  after  paying  all  expenses,  interest  on  deben- 
ture bonds,  and  also  paying  dividends  to  its  stockholders  amounting  in 
three  years  to  forty  two  per  cent  of  the  capital  invested,  left  the  com- 
pany with  some  5,000  more  cattle  than  when  he  assumed  the  manage- 
ment of  its  business,  and  an  undivided  surplus  of  about  $80,000. 
His  salary  for  his  service  with  this  company  was  $20,000  per  annum. 
When  he  severed  his  connection  with  the  Prairie  Cattle  Company,  its 
employees  presented  him  with  a  solid  silver  service,  costing  $1,500. 

In  1886  he  was  elected  president  of  the  International  Range  Asso- 
ciation, representing  the  live  stock  industry  of  the  Plains,  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  British  Columbia,  and  west  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 
He  was  re-elected  unanimously  to  the  same  position  in  1887.  He 
was  one  of  the  original  promoters  of  the  recently  formed  American 
Cattle  Trust,  and  now  resides  in  Denver,  Colorado,  and  is  the  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  entire  ranching  interests  of  that  association. 
He  is  one  of  the  principal  owners  in  the  Phoenix  Farm  &  Ranch 
Company,  of  Mora  County,  New  Merico,  which  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  desirable  and  productive,  as  also  the  most  systematically  con- 
ducted, properties  in  that  Territory,  if  not  in  the  entire  West. 

Mr.  Head  is  also  a  large  stockholder  in  the  Fort  Stockton  Live- 
Stock  &  Land  Company,  of  Texas,  comprising  50,000  acres  of  land, 
20,000  of  which  are  under  irrigation.  The  company  owns  30,000 
cattle  and  500  horses.  He  also  owns  a  farm  of  above  700  acres,  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation,  at  his  old  home,  in  Caldwell  County,  Texas. 

Mr.  Head  is  married  and  is  the  father  of  two  daughters,  to  whose 
comfort  and  happiness,  with  that  of  their  beloved  mother,  he  is  a  most 
devoted  husband  and  father.  A  busier  and  more  successful  life  bi- 
ographers are  not  permitted  to  chronicle,  nor  one  that  is  nobler  and 
purer. 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  625 

THOMAS   H.    LAWRENCE. 

Thomas  H.  Lawrence  was  born  at  Circleville,  Ohio,  in  1851. 
Having  obtained  the  education  offered  by  the  common  schools,  he 
accepted  a  clerical  position  in  New  York  City,  and  later  a  position 
of  the  same  kind  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  In  1868  he  went  to  West  Texas, 
where  he  began  the  career  which  brought  him  into  prominence  as  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  and  successful  cattlemen  of  the  Plains.  After 
four  years  of  cowboy  life,  Mr.  Lawrence  moved  a  herd  by  trail  to 
Ellsworth,  Kansas,  and  the  following  year  made  his  second  drive, 
this  time  to  Nebraska. 

In  the  fall  of  1873  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Wm.  C.  Irwine, 
and  with  him  established  a  cattle  ranch  near  Ogallala,  on  the  South 
Platte  River,  in  Nebraska,  where  they  placed  800  cattle.  This  part- 
nership was  terminated  at  the  expiration  of  two  years,  when  Mr. 
Lawrence  joined  Messrs.  J.  H.  and  G.  M.  Bosler,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Bosler  Bros.  &  Lawrence.  They  operated  a  large  ranch 
on  the  North  Platte,  and  continued  in  business  until  1883,  when  Mr. 
Lawrence  sold  out  to  his  partners.  He  then  removed  to  New  Mex- 
ico, where  he  assumed  the  management  of  the  Dubuque  Cattle  Com- 
pany, in  which  he  is  a  large  owner,  and  still  retains  the  management. 
The  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Lawrence  is  held  by  his  brother-stockmen 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he  has  been  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Northern  New  Mexico  Stock-Growers'  Association 
since  1883.  He  is  also  one  of  the  owners  of  the  Phoenix  Farm 
and  Ranch,  of  Mora  County,  New  Mexico, — the  most  valuable, 
and  extensive  combined  farm  and  ranch  in  the  Territory.  It  is 
stocked  with  9,00x3  head  of  cattle,  has  18,000  acres  of  pasture  lands 
enclosed,  and  several  thousand  acres  under  irrigation  and  tillage. 
Mr.  Lawrence  is  married,  has  two  children,  and  his  home  at  Las 
Vegas,  New  Mexico,  is  that  of  a  gentleman. 

JOHN    W.    SNYDER. 

Mr.  Snyder  was  born  in  Yazoo  County,  Mississippi,  June  21, 
1837.  He  was  scarcely  three  years  old  when  his  father  died  ;  but 
he  was  left  in  the  care  of  a  pious,  loving  mother,  who  was  obliged  to 
move,  first  to  Arkansas,  and  then  to  Missouri,  in  order  to  feed  and 
clothe  her  children.  She  was  brave  and  true,  and  John  and  his 
brothers  were  ditto.  Hard  work  and  rigid  economy  kept  the  wolf  of 
hunger  at  bay,  but  left  very  small  opportunities  for  schooling.  John 


626  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

received  about  one  year  of  poor  log-house  schooling  up  to  nineteen 
years  of  age. 

At  nineteen,  John  and  Dudley  borrowed  money  enough  to  buy  a 
team  and  load  of  apples,  which  they  carried  to  Austin,  Texas,  six 
hundred  miles,  and  sold  at  a  good  profit.  They  remained  in  Texas 
two  years,  farming  with  fair  success,  then  began  to  drive  horses  to 
Missouri  for  sale,  and  take  back  apples  to  Texas,  where  they  soon 
removed  their  mother  and  settled. 

In  1 86 1,  John  was  worth  one  thousand  and  six  hundred  dollars, 
and  he  resolved  to  attend  school.  But  a  few  months  only  elapsed 
when  the  late  civil  war  broke  out,  and  he  enlisted  as  a  private,  but 
was  soon  promoted  to  second  lieutenant,  and  then  captain.  He  and 
his  two  brothers  were  among  the  three  hundred  volunteers,  who,  on 
board  two  small  steamers,  attacked  the  Harriet  Lane  in  Galveston 
harbor,  captured  that  man-of-war,  and  retook  the  city.  Later,  in 
Louisiana,  under  General  Banks,  his  horse  was  shot  under  him. 

Soon  after  returning  from  the  war,  he  and  his  two  brothers,  Dudley 
and  Thomas,  began  the  cattle  trade  in  company,  and  this  grew  upon 
their  hands  until  it  became  enormous,  and  the  "Snyde'  Brothers" 
became  known,  not  only  in  Texas,  but  throughout  the  New  West,  for 
wealth,  enterprise,  and  integrity  of  character.  They  fought  the  Indians, 
hard  times,  and  mighty  obstacles  in  hewing  their  way  to  success. 

When  Mr.  Iliff  died,  J.  W.  Snyder  &  Co.  were  under  contract  to 
deliver  25,000  cattle  at  his  ranch  in  Colorado.  Mrs.  Iliff,  familiar 
with  their  enterprise  and  integrity,  besought  them  to  take  charge  of 
the  immense  herd  which  her  husband  left,  and  in  April,  1878,  J.  W. 
Snyder  assumed  that  responsibility,  and  the  first  year  shipped  14,053 
beeves  for  her  to  market.  In  the  spring  of  1881  they  purchased  the 
immense  Iliff  herd,  Mrs.  Iliff  retaining  an  interest  in  the  business. 
On  Jan.  i,  1887,  J.  W.  Snyder  &  Co.  owned  3*0,000  cattle,  275  horses, 
and  20,000  acres  of  land  in  Colorado;  and  17,000  cattle,  750  horses 
and  218,000  acres  of  land  in  Texas. 

Mr.  Snyder  married  in  March,  1867,  and  to-day  has  an  interesting 
family ;  and  he  is  never  so  happy  as  when  he  is  in  their  society.  He 
is  a  consistent  and  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Church.  It  is  a 
common  remark  that  the  Snyders  believe  in  carrying  religion  into 
their  business.  They  enforce  rigid  regulations  among  their  cowboys 
against  swearing,  drinking,  gambling,  and  Sabbath-breaking.  They 
give  away  large  sums  of  money.  Evidently  they  act  on  Wesley's 
rule,  —  "make  all  you  can,  save  all  you  can,  and  give  all  you  can." 
A  friend  says  of  John  W. :  — 


MARVELS  OF  STOCK-RAISING.  627 

"  His  life  is  gentle,  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  him,  that  nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world, 
This  is  a  man." 


JOHN   T.    LYTLE. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  October,  1844.  After  acquiring  the  limited  advantages  of 
the  public  schools  of  his  native  State,  young  Lytle  began  the  battle 
of  life  by  going  to  the  vicinity  of  San  Antonio,  Texas,  where  he 
obtained  employment  as  a  cowboy  in  the  spring  of  1860.  After  two 
years'  experience  he  assumed  the  management  of  a  ranch,  but  after 
one  year  in  this  position  he  gave  up  his  peaceful  vocation  to  take  part 
in  the  war  between  the  States.  He  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Colonel 
Wood's  regiment,  Texas  cavalry,  and  served  in  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
until  the  close  of  the  struggle.  He  returned  to  the  ranch  he  had  left 
to  become  a  soldier,  and  managed  it  for  three  years,  when  he  began 
business  for  himself,  with  a  few  cattle  in  Frio  County,  Texas.  In 
1871  he  took  the  trail  with  one  thousand  head  of  cattle,  for  his  first 
northern  drive.  Meeting  with  success,  he  was  encouraged  to  follow 
up  the  business  each  succeeding  year  with  largely  increasing  num- 
bers, until  1878,  when  he  drove  twenty  thousand  head.  During  these 
years  the  herds  were  accompanied  by  him,  but  from  1879  to  ^85 
inclusive,  while  he  moved  thirty-five  thousand  cattle  north  annually, 
he  did  not  take  the  trail  in  person.  From  1871  to  1885  inclusive, 
Captain  Lytle  moved  over  three  hundred  thousand  cattle  from  Texas 
to  the  North.  In  1878  Captain  Lytle  added  the  sheep  industry  to 
his  already  large  live-stock  interests,  and  his  firm  has  held  an  average 
of  about  forty-five  thousand  sheep  from  that  date  to  the  present. 

Captain  Lytle  is  also  one  of  the  largest  landed  proprietors  in  the 
country,  being  joint  proprietor  in  four  large  ranches  in  Texas.  The 
one  where  he  makes  his  home  is  at  Lytle,  Medina  County,  and  con- 
tains 20,000  acres,  all  enclosed,  improved,  and  stocked  with  blooded 
cattle.  A  ranch  in  Frio  County,  40,000  acres,  is  also  fenced  and 
stocked  with  cattle.  One  in  Maverick  County,  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
contains  50,000  acres  of  patented  land,  and  350,000  acres  of  leased 
lands.  The  latter  is  principally  devoted  to  sheep  and  wool  growing, 
although  16,000  head  of  cattle  are  kept  there.  Captain  Lytle  also 
owns  with  Mr.  Schriner  a  ranch  in  Mason  County,  Texas,  of  40,000 
acres  of  patented  land,  all  under  fence  and  stocked  with  cattle.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  approachable  of  men,  and  a  general  favorite.  He 
resides  at  Lytle,  Texas,  and  is  n.  widower  with  two  children. 


VI.     MARVELS    OF   AGRICULTURE. 

WHO  has  not  heard  of  the  cornfields  of  Kansas  and  the  wheat- 
fields  of  Dakota  ?  Not  that  all  the  mammoth  fields  of  corn 
and  wheat  are  found  in.  these  localities  ;  for  the  New  West,  clear  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  challenges  the  world  to  survey  its  empire  of  golden 
grain.  Contrary  to  the  expectations  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
the  States  and  Territories  along  the  Missouri,  and  beyond,  yield  mar- 
vellous harvests.  Daniel  Webster  said  that  wheat  could  never  be 
produced  in  paying  quantities  in  California.  For  years,  the  reports 
of  remarkable  harvests  in  that  distant  portion  of  our  country  were 
not  believed  in  the  East.  Thirty  and  sixty  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
seventy-five  of  corn,  to  the  acre,  was  simply  a  "Western  lie."  East- 
ern farmers,  accustomed  to  raise  a  few  acres  of  grain,  —  five,  ten, 
perhaps  twenty  acres,  —  contemptuously  sneered  at  the  newspaper 
report  of  ten  thousand  acres  of  corn  and  wheat  on  a  single  farm. 
"The  spring  is  too  short  for  so  much  planting  and  sowing." 
"Couldn't  gather  half  of  it  in  the  autumn  months."  "Couldn't  sell 
so  much  for  ten  cents  a  bushel."  "  Speculators  get  up  these  stories." 
"Tell  it  to  the  marines."  The  reports  were  too  big  for  belief.  Sto- 
ries of  half  the  size,  though  expressing  only  half  the  truth,  might 
have  been  accepted.  The  delighted  Irishman,  who  asked  his  em- 
ployer to  write  a  letter  for  him  to  his  old  father  in  Ireland,  said  :  — 

"Write  him  that  I  have  meat  to  eat  once  a  day." 

"Why,  Pat;  you  have  meat  three  times  a  day,"  replied  his  em- 
ployer, "and  why  write  that  you  have  it  but  once  ? " 

"  Faith,  sir,  it  is  too  much  for  them  to  believe.  If  I  say  that  I 
have  meat  once  a  day,  they  may  believe  ;  but  if  I  say  three  times  a 
day,  they  will  say  it's  Pat's  fabrication." 

So  the  letter  went  telling  the  old  father  that  his  son  in  "  Amer- 
iky  "  had  meat  once  a  day  ;  and  it  was  true  as  far  as  it  went.  It  was 
so  much  nearer  the  state  of  things  in  Pat's  native  land  that  it  chal- 
lenged belief. 

So  it  was  with  the  marvels  of  agriculture  in  the  New  West  a 
generation  ago.  They  presented  so  great  a  contrast  with  the  agri- 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


629 


culture  of  the  East  that  credulity  could  not  span  the  chasm.  If  the 
reports  had  been  half  the  size  they  might  have  been  believed.  As  it 
was,  caricature  and  burlesque  modified  even  the  facts  that  were  gen- 
erally accepted,  after  the  manner  of  the  following  :  — 

"  Yes,  sir,"  resumed  the  Dakota  man,  as  the  crowd  of  agricultur- 
ists drew  back  from  the  bar  and  seated  themselves  around  a  little 
table,  "yes,  sir,  we  do  things  on  rather  a  sizable  scale.  I've  seen  a 
man  on  one  of  our  big  farms  start  out  in  the  spring  and  plough  a 
straight  furrow  until  fall,  then  he  turned  around  and  harvested  back." 


"  Carry  his  grub 
with  him  ?  "  asked 
a    Brooklyn    farmer    who 
raised  cabbage  on  the  out- 
skirts. 

SULKEY  PLOUGH.  "  No,  sir.      They  follow 

him  up  with  a  steam  hotel 

and  have  relays  of  men  to  change  ploughs  for  him.  We  have  some 
big  farms  up  there,  gentlemen.  A  friend  of  mine  owned  a  farm  on 
which  he  had  to  give  a  mortgage,  and  I  pledge  you  my  word  the 
mortgage  was  due  on  one  end  before  they  could  get  it  on  record  at 
the  other.  You  see  it  was  laid  off  in  counties." 

There  was  a  murmur  of  astonishment,  and  the  Dakota  man  con- 
tinued :  — 

"  I  got  a  letter  from  a  man  who  lives  in  my  orchard  just  before  I 


630 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


left  home,  and  it  had  been  three  weeks  getting  to  the  dwelling-house, 
although  it  had  travelled  day  and  night." 

"Distances  are  pretty  wide  up  there,  ain't  they  ? "  inquired  a  New 
Utrecht  agriculturist. 

"Reasonably,  reasonably,"  replied  the  Dakota  man.     "And  the 
worst  of  it  is,  it  breaks  up  families  so.     Two  years  ago  I  saw  a  whole 
family  prostrated  with  grief,  —  women  yelling,  children  howling,  and 
dogs  barking.     One  of  my  men  had  his  camp  truck  packed  on  seven 
four-mule  teams,  and  he  was  around  bidding  everybody  good  by." 
"  Where  was  he  going? "  asked  a  Gravesend  man. 
"  He  was  going  half-way  across  the  farm  to  feed  the  pigs,"  replied 
the  Dakota  man. 

"  Did  he  ever  get  back  to  his  family  ?  " 

"It  isn't  time  for  him  yet," 
returned  the  Dakota  gentleman. 
"  Up  there  we  send  young  mar- 
ried couples  to  milk  the  cows, 
and  their  children  bring  home 
the  milk." 

But  time  has  not  only  vindi- 
cated the  reports,  but  proved  also 
that  the  half  was  never  told.  The 
wildest  dream  has  become  real- 
ity. The  biggest  story  is  not  too 
large  for  belief.  The  bigger  the 
better.  The  pendulum  has  swung 
to  the  other  extreme.  Nothing  is 
too  large  for  belief.  Twenty  and  even  thirty  thousand  acre  farms,  and 
a  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre,  is  not  an  extravagant  story  now.  Corn 
eighteen  feet  high,  with  ears  long  and  heavy  enough  for  a  policeman's 
club,  is  not  questioned  now  even  by  the  uninitiated.  Harvests  like 
an  army  with  banners,  waving  their  golden  plumes  above  the  house 
which  the  farmer  occupies,  require  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to 
realize. 

We  have  seen  Kansas  corn  several  feet  higher  than  the  dwelling 
which  the  owner  occupied.  The  stocks  were  marvellously  stout  as 
compared  with  Eastern  corn,  and  seemed  to  defy  ordinary  methods 
of  harvesting.  An  axe  appeared  as  necessary  to  lay  that  field  of 
corn  flat  as  in  gathering  a  crop  of  hoop-poles.  Indeed,  we  should  be 
as  hopefully  inclined  to  feed  cattle  with  moderate-sized  hoop-poles 
as  with  the  stock  of  that  corn. 


CORN   IN  THE    KAW  VALLEY,   KANSAS. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  631 

The  newspapers  teem  with  items  now  that  would  have  been 
treated  as  wholly  unreliable  thirty  years  ago.  Here  is  a  sample  :  — 

"  A  stalk  of  corn  twenty  feet  high,  and  bearing  thirteen  well- 
developed  ears,  is  reported  to  have  been  grown  at  Encinitas,  Cal., 
this  season." 

"  A  Nevada  pear  tree,  with  a  trunk  only  one  inch  in  diameter, 
bears  forty  pounds  of  fruit." 

"  Remi  Nadeau,  of  Los  Angeles  Co.,  the  largest  vine  planter  in 
California,  has  set  out  about  100,000  vines  this  season,  and  is  waiting 
for  more  rain  to  increase  the  number.  He  and  his  sons  have  now 
between  three  and  four  million  vines,  and  are  the  largest  grape 
growers  in  the  world." 

"The  Healdsbnrg  (Cal.)  Enterprise  reports  that  last  March  Mr. 
H.  O.  Ludolff's  hired  man  cut  off  a  cutting  from  a  grape-vine  and 
stuck  it  in  the  ground  for  mere  sport.  About  a  month  ago  he  called 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Ludolff  to  it,  and  he  was  surprised  to  see  that  it 
had  grown  seven  feet  high  and  bore  grapes.  The  bunches  were 
of  immense  size,  and  every  bit  as  good  as  the  original  stock." 

"An  Oregon  man  lives  in  a  room  which  he  hollowed  out  in  the 
stump  of  a  big  tree.  It  has  doors  and  windows,  and  answers  the 
purpose  of  a  house." 

"  In  California  alfalfa  is  cut  four  and  five  times  in  the  season, 
and  averages  from  two  and  a  half  to  two  tons  at  each  cutting,  or 
from  eight  to  ten  tons  per  acre  for  the  season." 

"  In  Placer  Co.,  Cal.,  is  an  orange  cling  peach  tree  grown  from  a 
dormant  bud,  one  year's  growth,  with  stem  an  inch  and  a  half  in 
diameter,  and  standing  thirteen  feet  high.  Also,  a  late  October 
peach  grown  in  the  same  manner  from  bud  this  season,  standing 
twelve  feet  high. 

"  Messrs.  Mitchell  and  McGindley  exhibit  a  turnip  which  weighs 
twenty-one  pounds,  and  measures  two  feet  and  three  inches  in 
circumference." 

"  The  largest  squash  ever  raised  in  western  Colorado  was  produced 
the  past  season  on  North  Fork,  in  Delta  Co.  Its  weight  was  168 
pounds." 

"  Mr.  P.,  a  neighbor  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  ranch,  had 
planted,  in  soil  turned  that  year  for  the  first  time,  part  of  one  ear  of 
pop-corn  from  which  he  raised  a  crop  that  filled  two  barrels.  A 
single  kernel  fell  by  accident  into  a  potato  hill  about  sixty  feet 
distant  from  where  the  rest  was  planted,  and  produced  a  stock  from 
which  were  picked  seventeen  ears  of  corn,  on  which,  by  actual  count, 


632 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


MILLET  — SIX  WEEKS'  GROWTH. 


there  were  found  six 
thousand  five  hundred 
and  eighteen  kernels." 

A  Colorado  farmer 
writes  :  "  I  raised  three 
wagon  loads  of  squash- 
es on  one-twelfth  of  an 
acre. 

"  From  my  own  gar- 
den I  raised  2,240  bush- 
els of  beets  per  acre. 
Also,  80  bushels  of 
beans  per  acre. 

"From  1,000  to 
1,200  bushels  of  pars- 
nips per  acre  may  be 
raised.  I  have  them 
two  and  a  half  feet 
long." 

"  California  sent  to 
the  grand  exposition  at 
New  Orleans,  in  1885, 
a  squash  three  feet 
long  and  two  feet  in 
diameter,  weighing  165 
pounds  ;  early  rose  po- 
tatoes nine  inches  long 
and  four  in  short  diam- 
eter, weighing  from 
two  to  three  pounds 
each;  a  watermelon 
three  feet  long  and  two 
feet  in  diameter  ;  beets 
weighing  forty  pounds 
apiece,  cabbages  sixty 
pounds  each,  and 
peaches  so  large  in  size 
that  four  average  ones 
weighed  three  pounds." 

"The  Denver  expo- 
sition shows  a  cabbage 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  633 

weighing  eighty  pounds,  a  pumpkin  two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds, 
parsnips  three  feet  long  weighing  twenty  pounds,  a  beet  sixty  pounds, 
and  onions  weighing  from  six  to  eight  pounds  apiece." 

"  Kansas  boasts  of  corn  eighteen  feet  high,  and  oats  and  millet 
ten  feet." 

The  foregoing  remarkable  facts  are  illustrations  of  what  we  read 
in  public  journals,  almost  daily,  concerning  the  agriculture  of  the 
New  West.  We  say  facts,  for  facts  they  are,  and  not  falsehoods. 
They  have  begotten  "great  expectations."  From  believing  little  of 
the  reports  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  people  have  come  to  believe 
them  all,  and  ask  for  more  marvels  still.  It  is  recorded  in  the  Agri- 
cultural Bureau  at  Washington  that  the  largest  yield  of  wheat  ever 
known  in  the  whole  world  was  grown  in  Salinas  Valley,  Monterey 
County,  California,  in  1852.  The  yield  was- one  hundred  and  two 
bushels  to  the  acre.  Who  can  believe  this  fact,  can  believe  all  the 
possibilities  of  western  agriculture. 

Turn  now  to  the  methods  of  agriculture  in  the  New  West,  and 
behold  how  the  boundless  prairies  are  converted  into  gardens  by  en- 
terprise and  tact. 

In  1880  the  United  States  stood  at  the  head  of  nations  in  agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  products,  their  value  being  $3,020,000,000.  With- 
out the  New  West  this  creditable  position  would  not  have  been 
attained.  Russia  stands  next  in  the  list,  the  value  of  her  agricultural 
products  being  $2,545,000,000.  Then  Germany,  with  $2,280,000,000. 
Next  France,  with  $2,220,000,000.  Next  Austria,  with  $322,000,000. 
Great  Britain  is  the  sixth  in  the  list,  from  her  comparatively  small 
area  producing  $1,280,000,000  in  value. 

One-fourth  of  all  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  is  employed  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  There  are  more  than  4,000,000  farms,  a 
majority  of  them  being  run  by  their  owners.  About  3,000,000,000 
bushels  of  grain  are  annually  produced,  the  New  West  growing 
the  larger  part.  The  invention  and  multiplication  of  labor-saving 
machines  has  made  this  production  possible.  In  1830  the  value 
of  machinery  used  in  agriculture  was  $150,000,000;  it  is  now 
§500,000,000. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  785,000  square  miles  of  arable  lands 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  645,000  of  grazing  lands,  260,000  of  timber 
lands,  and  425,000  that  are  useless.  There  are  nearly  twice  as  many 
acres  of  arable  land  west  of  the  Mississippi  as  there  are  east  of 
it.  The  proportion  is  estimated  thus:  1,690,000  west,  and  800,000 
east. 


634 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


Mr.  Carnegie l  strikingly  puts  the  facts  in  the  case  as  follows  : 
"The  farms  of  America  comprise  837,628  square  miles,  an  area 
nearly  equal  to  one-fourth  of  Europe,  and  larger  than  the  four  great- 
est European  countries  put  together  (Russia  excepted),  namely, 


France,  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary,  and  Spain.  The  capital 
invested  in  agriculture  would  suffice  to  buy  up  the  whole  of  Italy, 
with  its  rich  olive-groves  and  vineyards,  its  old  historic  cities,  cathe- 
drals and  palaces,  its  kings  and  aristocracy,  its  pope  and  cardinals, 

1  Triumphant  Democracy,  p.  199. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


635 


and  every  other  feudal  appurtenance.  Or,  if  the  American  farmers 
were  to  sell  out,  they  could  buy  the  entire  peninsula  of  Spain,  with 
all  its  traditions  of  mediaeval  grandeur,  and  the  flat  lands  which  the 
Hollanders  at  vast  cost  have  wrested  from  the  sea,  and  the  quaint 
old  towns  they  have  built  there.  If  he  chose  to  put  by  his  savings 
for  three  years,  the  Yankee  farmer  could  purchase  the  fee-simple  of 
pretty  Switzerland  as  a  summer  resort,  and  not  touch  his  capital  at 
all ;  for  each  year's  earnings  exceed  $550,000,000.  The  cereal  crop 
of  1880  was  more  than  2,500,000,000  bushels.  If  placed  in  one  mass, 
this  would  make  a  pile  of  3,500,000,000  cubic  feet.  Built  into  a  solid 
mass  as  high  as  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  (365  feet),  and  as  wide  as  the 
cathedral  across  the  transepts  (285  feet),  it  would  extend,  a  solid  mass 
of  grain,  down  Fleet  Street  and  the  length  of  the  Strand  and  Pica- 
dilly,  thence  on  through  Knightsbridge,  Hammersmith,  and  South 
Kensington,  to  a  distance  of  over  six  miles.  Or  it  would  make  a 
pyramid  three  times  as  great  as  that  of  Cheops.  If  loaded  on  carts, 
it  would  require  all  the  horses  in  Europe  and  1,000,000  more 
(33,500,000)  to  remove  it,  though  each  horse  drew  a  load  of  two  tons. 
Were  the  entire  crop  of  cereals  loaded  on  a  continuous  train  of  cars, 
the  train  would  reach  one  and  a  half  times  around  the  globe.  Its 
value  is  half  as  great  as  all  the  gold  mined  in  California  in  the  thirty- 
five  years  since  gold  was  found  there.  The  corn  and  cotton-fields  of 
America  form  kingdoms  in  themselves,  surpassing  in  size  some  of 
those  of  Europe." 

Distribution  of  Land  Areas.      {Deduced  from  the   Census  of  1880.} 


STATES  AND  TERRI- 

LAND   IN'   FARMS. 

LAND  NOT  IN 

TOTAL 

NEW  WEST. 

IMPROVED. 

UNIMPROVED. 

TOTAL. 

FARMS. 

LAND  AREA. 

Kansas  

107  IQ  i;66 

IO  677  QO2 

21,417,468 

3O,87O,i;32 

52,288,OOO 

Nebraska    .  .  . 
Oregon    .... 
Washington  .  . 
Colorado    .  .  . 
Utah     

5,504,702 
2,198,645 
484,346 
616,169 

4.l6.IOs 

4,440,124 
2,Ol6,O67 
925,075 
549,204 

23Q.4I9 

9,944,826 
4,214,712 
1,409,421 
1,165,373 
6Qs,c;24 

38,813,574 
56,303,688 

41,393,779 
65,167,427 
t;i,946,O76 

48,758,400 
60,518,400 
42,803,200 
66,332,8OO 
52,6OI,6OO 

Wyoming   ... 
Montana     .  .  . 
Idaho   

83,122 

262,611 
197,407 

4i,3" 
143,072 
130,391 

124,433 
405,683 
327,708 

62,323,567 
92,592,717 
53,6l7,8O2 

62,448,000 
92,998,4OO 

C3,94!;,6oo 

Nevada    ..... 
Arizona    .... 
Dakota    .... 
New  Mexico  .  . 
California   .  .  . 

344.423 
56,071 

1,150,413 
237,392 
10,669,698 

186,439 

79o02 
2,650,243 

393,739 
5,924,044 

530,862 

135-573 
3,800,656 

631,131 
16,593,742 

69,702,738 
72,133,227 
90,727,344 
77,743,269 
83,233,458 

70,233,600 
72,268,800 
94,528,000 
78,374,400 
99,827,200 

Totals   

32,960,670 

28,396,1:32 

61,357,202 

886,569,198 

947,926,400 

636 


MARVELS   OF   THE  NEW   WEST. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


637 


The  illustration  informs  the  reader  at  once  how  a  farm  of  twenty 
or  thirty  thousand  acres  is  ploughed.  It  is  divided  into  sections,  with 
superintendent  and  army  of  employees  for  each  section,  who  go  to 
work  with  military  precision  and  order.  The  cut  opposite  represents 
two  sections  of  workers,  one  of  them  in  the  distance,  each  moving 
forward  like  a  column  of  cavalry,  turning  over  a  hundred  acres  of  soil 
in  an  incredibly  brief  period  of  time.  The  superintendent  is  accom- 
panied by  aids,  furnished  with  all  the  necessary  tools  and  materials 
for  making  repairs  speedily,  so  as  to  reduce  delays  to  the  least  possi- 
ble minimum.  Under  this  arrangement  the  earth  is  easily  conquered 
by  this  mighty  army  of  ploughers,  who  move  forward  to  the  music 


STEAM  GANG  PLOUGH. 

of  rattling  machines  and  the  tramp  of  horses.  It  is  an  inspiring 
spectacle,  —  the  almost  boundless  prairie  farm  and  the  cohorts  of 
hopeful  tillers  marching  over  it  in  triumph. 

Steam  also  reinforces  the  battalions  of  workers  on  many  bonanza 
farms',  largely  multiplying  the  amount  of  labor  performed. 

The  process  of  harrowing  an  extensive  wheat-field  is  like  that  of 
ploughing,  the  plough  being  exchanged  for  the  harrow.  The  super- 
intendent, on  horseback,  leads  the  harrowing  cavalcade,  as  the  general 
does  his  army,  and  between  the  tramp  of  steeds  and  tear  of  harrows, 
the  soil  is  pretty  thoroughly  pulverized.  Workmen  say  there  is  pecu- 
liar fascination  in  this  method  of  subduing  Western  land  on  a  large 
scale.  Men  forget  the  burden  of  toil  in  the  excitement  of  the  hour. 


MARVELS   OE  THE  NEW   WEST. 


"  Many  hands  make  light  work  "  is  an  old  proverb ;  but  it  is  full  as 
true  that  many  hands  make  merry  work.  Drudgery  becomes  no 
part  of  the  labor.  It  is  not  really  "hard  work,"  nor  "wearing  work." 
There  is  so  much  sociability  as  well  as  novelty  in  the  methods  that 
no  one  is  disposed  to  complain  of  "hard"  work.  Nor  do  they  tire  of 
the  business  as  Eastern  farmers,  working  early  and  late  to  support 
their  families,  often  tire.  They  behold  the  reward  of  labor  in  the 


HARROWING  ON  A  BONANZA  FARM. 

rich,  loamy  furrows,  and  are  satisfied.  It  is  three  and  four  months 
before  harvest,  yet  they  see  the  thousands  of  acres  of  waving  grain, 
the  grandest  spectacle  upon  which  their  eyes  ever  feasted.  Says  one 
who  speaks  from  personal  observation  :  — 

"  After  all,  the  most  magnificent  sight  presented  to  the  traveller 
is  the  almost  boundless  expanse  of  tall,  waving  wheat  in  North  Dakota. 
Look  out  for  eight,  ten,  or  twenty  miles,  as  far  as  the  average  human 
sight  can  pierce  the  distance,  and  view  the  luxuriant,  stalwart  grain 
swaying  in  the  breeze  and  glittering  in  the  golden  sunlight  like  the 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


639 


coruscations  of  a  soaring  imagination,  and  if  anything  is  lacking  to 
complete  the  sublimity  of  the  picture,  compute  the  pile  of  golden 
eagles,  or  greenbacks,  the  alchemy  of  harvest  will  transmute  into  the 
pockets  of  the  lucky  owners  of  these  Western  bonanzas." 

The  author  of  "  California,  the  Cornucopia  of  the  World,"  has  com- 
municated so  much  information  upon  seeding  wheat  in  that  State,  in 
a  brief  article,  that  we  copy  it  entire.  The  difference  between  the 
seasons  in  California  and  some  other  portions  of  the  New  West  is  set 
forth  by  the  writer  :  — 


SEEDING    ON   A  BONANZA   FARM. 

"  We  have  heretofore  alluded  to  the  fact  that  the  seasons  in  Cali- 
fornia are  so  favorable  to  putting  in  grain  that  one  man  can  put  in 
much  more  there  than  in  countries  where  the  seasons  are  less  favora- 
ble. By  good  management  every  farmer  has  a  good  portion  of  his 
land  intended  for  wheat  summer-fallowed.  This  he  sows  before  the 
rain  begins,  say  in  September.  The  seed  comes  up  with  the  first 
rain,  and  makes  a  large  growth  in  the  warm,  pleasant,  fall  weather, 
which  is  as  fine  growing  weather  as  any  April  or  May  weather. 

"  Then,  when  enough  rain  has  fallen  to  moisten  the  soil  sufficiently 


640  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

to  plough  stubble  corn  or  new  land,  the  teams  are  set  to  work  putting 
in  these  kinds  of  lands  to  wheat.  This  is  called  winter-ploughed 
wheat.  The  ground  being  smooth,  and  soil  entirely  free  of  stone 
and  deep  and  mellow,  gang  ploughs  are  used.  Some  use  two  and 
some  three  gangs,  and  where  the  fields  are  large  and  the  soil  in  good 
condition  and  level,  as  high  as  eleven  ploughs  to  the  gang  are  used. 
Four  horses  are  used  on  a  two-gang  plough,  and  six  on  a  three-gang, 
and  so  increasing  the  number  of  horses  to  the  number  of  ploughs  in 
the  gang,  using  twelve  horses  on  eleven-gang  ploughs. 

"  The  ploughs  in  the  gangs,  when  so  many  are  used,  are  generally 
smaller  ploughs,  say  cutting  a  furrow  eight  and  ten  inches.  Con- 
nected with  the  plough  or  gang  of  ploughs  is  a  seed  sower  that  sows 
the  seed  in  front  of  the  plough,  and  a  harrow  behind  and  attached  to 
the  plough,  so  that  as  the  machine  moves  along  the  whole  operation 
of  ploughing,  seeding,  and  harrowing  is  performed  and  completed. 
No  matter  how  many  ploughs  in  the  gang  or  how  many  horses,  one 
man  attends  to  and  manages  the  whole  thing.  It  is  always  calcu- 
lated that  the  number  of  acres  thus  ploughed  and  sown  in  a  day 
should  be  equal  to  the  number  of  horses  employed.  Thus,  with  six 
horses  six  acres  are  sown,  with  eight  horses  eight  acres,  and  with 
twelve  horses  twelve  acres  are  put  in  in  a  day.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  one  man  with  twelve  horses  can,  in  one  month  of  twenty-six 
working  days,  put  in  312  acres.  We  have  heretofore  stated  that  our 
seed  time  for  wh'eat  is  from  September  to  April,  eight  months.  At 
312  acres  to  the  month,  one  man  can  thus  put  in  2,496  acres.  Now, 
in  this  connection  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  this  labor,  this 
important  and  money-making  labor,  is  performed  in  the  rainy  season 
t)f  California.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the  rainy  season  in 
California,  as  we  have  already  explained,  is  not  a  season  of  contin- 
uous rains,  as  many  have  supposed.  Sometimes  it  rains  most  of  the 
time  for  two  or  three  days,  but  more  generally  the  farmer  can  work 
in  the  field  the  whole  season  through  and  not  lose  more  than  four  or 
five  days  in  the  whole  time." 

"  Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention  ;  "  and  so  the  wheat-raisers 
found  a  way  of  harvesting  their  enormous  crops.  Our  forefathers 
used  the  sickle,  a  very  slow  and  unsatisfactory  method  of  gathering 
grain.  Less  than  a  hundred  years  ago  the  "  cradle  "  for  cutting  grain 
was  invented  by  a  Scotchman,  and  this  created  a  revolution  in  har- 
vesting. It  facilitated  the  autumn  work  of  the  farmer  to  such  a 
degree  that  he  never  dreamed  there  could  be  any  improvement  upon 
that  method.  But  even  the  "cradle"  could  not  avail  much  on  the 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


641 


642 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


vast  wheat-fields  of  the  New  West.  Think  of  Dalrymple  cradling 
thirty  thousand  acres  of  grain  !  One  hundred  men  could  cradle  but 
three  hundred  acres  per  day  at  the  most ;  and  one  hundred  days, 
at  this  rate,  would  be  required  for  harvesting.  This  would  "cost 
more  than  it  comes  to."  Western  farmers  could  not  afford  the 
expense.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  some  other  method  of 
harvesting  grain  should  be  discovered,  and  it  was.  A  machine  for 
cutting,  binding,  and  placing  the  bundles  in  an  upright  position 
met  the  needs  of  the  hour.  The  problem  of  harvesting  the  largest 
fields  of  grain  was  solved  by  this  invention. 

A   romantic  Western   story   was   told   about   this   machine   last 
season.     A  young  lady  was  intently  watching  its  operation,  when,  in 


STEAM  HEADER. 

her  eagerness  to  comprehend  the  process,  she  ventured  too  near  its 
enfolding  arms,  and  was  taken  up  by  them,  as  the  grain  was  taken 
up,  bound,  and  deposited  on  her  feet.  Being  about  the  size  of  a 
bundle  of  grain,  she  passed  through  the  process  unhurt,  and  found 
herself  standing  upon  her  feet  with  no  change  except  an  additional 
neat  little  band  about  her  waist. 

The  writer,  who  has  spoken  to  us  of  California  from  personal 
observation,  speaks  as  follows  of  harvesting  wheat  and  the  use  of  the 
header : — 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  no  rain  from  the  first  or 
middle  of  May  to  the  first  or  middle  of  October ;  the  seasons  vary  a 
little  as  to  the  close  of  the  rainy  season  and  the  beginning  of  the  dry. 
As  a  rule,  the  wheat  in  California  is  cut  with  a  header.  On  some  of 
the  small  farms  the  farmers  unite  together  and  purchase  a  header 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  643 

and  alternate  in  the  use  of  it.  In  other  cases,  farmers  hire  their 
grain  cut  by  the  acre  by  men  who  own  headers,  and  make  it  a  busi- 
ness to  go  from  farm  to  farm  during  the  harvest  time.  The  general 
practice  now  is  to  have  the  grain  cut  and  threshed  at  the  same  time, 
and  by  a  man  who  owns  and  mans  and  works  both  a  header  and 
steam  thresher.  These  cutting  and  threshing  rigs  are  complete. 
They  find  all  the  teams  and  all  the  help,  and  move  a  kitchen  and 
kitchen  fixtures  all  on  wheels  along  with  them.  They  take  contracts 
to  cut  and  thresh  wheat  or  other  grain  at  so  much  an  acre,  bushel,  or 
cental,  doing  all  the  work  and  finding  everything,  leaving  the  farmer 
nothing  to  do  but  receive  and  take  care  of  his  sacked  wheat,  and  his 
wife  no  more  care  or  trouble  during  harvesting  and  threshing  time 
than  at  any  other  season  of  the  year.  The  price  per  acre  varies  in 
accordance  with  the  demand  for  labor  and  the  character  of  the  grain, 
but  runs  from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter. 

"  The  wheat  that  is  standing  in  the  field  in  the  morning  is  found 
in  sacks,  and  frequently  at  the  shipping  depot,  ready  to  be  put  on  the 
steamer  or  cars  for  market  before  night.  We  have  known  it  to  be 
carried  to  mill  and  returned  to  the  farm  in  the  form  of  flour,  and 
cooked,  so  that  the  hands  who  cut  it  in  the  morning  ate  it  at 
supper  in  the  form  of  warm  biscuit.  We  have  in  the  San  Joaquin 
valley,  working  successfully,  combined  headers  and  threshers.  These 
machines  move  before  the  horses,  —  from  twenty  to  twenty-four 
horses  or  mules  to  each  machine,  —  cut  and  thresh  and  sack  the 
grain,  and  leave  the  sacks  in  piles.  Four  men  work  them,  and  cut 
and  thresh  from  twenty-five  to  forty  acres  a  day,  depending  on  the 
favorableness  of  the  ground  and  the  grain.  If  the  farmer  is  busy 
when  his  wheat  is  threshed,  and  cannot  well  carry  his  wheat  to  the 
barn  or  storehouse  or  depot,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  pile  his  sacks  up 
in  the  field,  cover  them  with  straw,  and  let  them  lay  there  two  or 
three  months,  or  till  he  can  conveniently  move  them.  The  clear  blue 
sky  is  a  guaranty  against  any  damage  from  the  weather,  and  the  no- 
fence  law  is  a  guaranty  that  no  stock  shall  interfere  with  it.  The 
advantage  secured  to  the  farmer  in  sowing  and  harvesting  his  wheat, 
is,  of  course,  secured  to  him  in  sowing  and  harvesting  all  other  kinds 
of  grain. 

"  But  one  word  now  in  reference  to  spring  and  winter  wheat.  We 
have  no  such  distinction  in  California.  It  makes  no  difference  where 
our  seed  comes  from,  or  whether  it  bears  the  name  of  winter  or 
spring  wheat.  Grown  in  California  it  simply  becomes  California 
wheat,  and  in  Liverpool,  or  any  other  market  in  Europe,  it  is  quoted 


644 


MARVELS   OF  THE   NEW   WEST. 


white  wheat,  and  bears  the  highest  quotations.  We  change  our  seed 
from  time  to  time  from  one  locality  to  another,  or  import  seed  from 
other  States,  to  gain  the  advantages  of  such  changes,  but  our  crops 
bear  in  all  cases  the  ear  mark  of  the  California  climate.  We  have 
probably  said  enough  to  convince  the  reader  that  California  can  raise 
wheat  cheaper  than  any  other  country,  and  to  explain  why  the  ratio 
of  production  in  California  is  ten  bushels  for  each  man,  woman,  and 
child  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  to  one  bushel  for  each  man, 
woman,  and  child  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  in  Illinois,  or  any  of 
the  other  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  But  we  have  one 
other  advantage  to  speak  of,  and  then  we  will  leave  this  particular 
branch  of  the  subject.  It  is  found  by  actual  statistics  that  the  aver- 


THE  STEAM  THRESHER. 

age  yield  per  acre  in  California  is  two-fifths  more  than  the  average 
yield  per  acre  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent." 

This  cut  shows  the  steam  thresher  of  which  our  California  inform- 
ant speaks.  What  he  says  about  the  rapidity  with  which  the  work  is 
done  —  wheat  cut  in  the  morning  appearing  in  hot  biscuit  at  night  — 
may  seem  as  fabulous  to  the  reader  as  any  of  the  reports  burlesqued 
thirty  years  ago.  But  the  writer  of  the  foregoing  is  perfectly  relia- 
ble, and  speaks  officially,  too. 

Eastern  farmers  cannot  understand  how  it  is  that  North  Dakota, 
with  its  cold,  piercing  winters  and  terrible  blizzards,  and  summers 
swept  by  cyclones,  can  produce  more  wheat  per  acre  than  even  Cali- 
fornia. A  scientist  explains  the  matter  as  follows  :  "  The  qualities 
of  climate  which  bear  on  wheat-raising  in  North  Dakota,  and  con- 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


645 


tribute  more  regularly,  uniformly,  and  efficiently  to  the  growth  of  the 
crop  than  any  found  in  more  southerly  climes,  are,  more  daily  sun- 
shine, —  the  days,  by  reason  of  the  higher  altitude,  being  longer,  — 
cool  nights  which  always  favor  the  cereal  crops,  deep  frosts  which 
gradually  melt  and  supply  moisture  to  the  growing  plant,  less  intense 
heat  during  the  maturing  months,  fewer  injurious  caprices  of  weather 
at  the  critical  period  of  growth,  and  natural  climatic  conditions  which 
render  possible  the  production  of  hard  spring  wheat,  —  a  cheap  crop, 


McCORMICK'S  NEW   REAPER. 

by  reason  of  its  being  a  quick  crop  of  only  about  one  hundred  days 
from  seeding  to  maturity." 

The  prevailing  westerly  winds,  called  "  Chinook,"  extend  to  the 
inland  plains  of  the  northern  Pacific  country,  and  sensibly  modify  the 
climate. 

In  New  England  the  farmer  waits  for  the  frost  to  quit  the  earth 
before  he  undertakes  to  seed  it.  But  in  Dakota,  and  all  the  region 
which  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  has  opened  for  settlement,  the 
farmer  plants  and  sows  as  soon  as  the  warm  sun  of  March  has 


646  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

melted  three  or  four  inches  of  the  six  feet  of  frost  in  the  soil.  The 
frost  continues  to  melt  after  the  earth  is  seeded,  affording  moisture 
and  heat  from  beneath,  to  the  great  advantage  of  all  cereals.  Like 
the  underground  irrigation  of  California,  this  process  of  dissolving  the 
frost  slowly  turns  out  to  be  one  of  the  finest  arrangements  of  nature 
for  growing  wheat  rapidly  and  plentifully. 

Eastern  people  who  feel  the  cold  chills  creeping  over  them  when- 
ever they  think  of  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  to  say  nothing 
of  Montana  and  Idaho,  will  be  both  surprised  and  instructed  by  read- 
ing the  following :  — 

"  West  of  the  Cascade  Range  the  winters  are  rainy,  rather  than 
cold.  The  average  temperature  for  spring  is  52°;  for  summer,  67° ; 
for  autumn,  53°;  and  for  winter,  38°;  showing  a  mean  deviation  of 
only  29°  during  the  year.  The  winter,  or  rainy  season,  begins  about 
the  middle  of  October,  often  later,  and  ends  about  the  first  of  May. 
The  rains  are  more  copious  in  December,  January,  and  March. 

"  Since  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  white  men,  beginning 
with  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century, 
no  storm  has  done  material  damage  in  the  region  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  north  of  California. 

"  In  Western  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory,  whenever  the 
thermometer  falls  a  few  degrees  below  the  freezing  point,  the  weather 
is  usually  bright  and  pleasant,  with  heavy  white  frost  at  night.  The 
frosts  that  occur  in  spring,  which  in  other  lands  would  be  severe 
enough  to  injure  fruit  and  other  crops,  are  commonly  followed  by 
heavy  fogs  from  the  ocean.  The  humidity  of  these  fogs  dissolves 
the  frost  before  the  sun  can  strike  the  vegetation,  so  that  no  harm  is 
done  by  it.  This  moist  atmosphere  keeps  the  grass  perennially 
green  on  the  coast,  and  it  is  not  unusual  for  flowers  to  bloom  in  the 
open  air  the  winter  through. 

"  Ice  is  seldom  sufficiently  thick  to  be  cut  for  use,  and  skating  is 
a  rare  pastime.  The  spring  opens  so  early  that  the  farmer  sows  his 
seed,  and  the  fruit  trees  and  wild  flowers  are  in  bloom,  when  in  lati- 
tude from  four  to  six  degrees  further  south,  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
the  rigor  of  winter  is  still  unrelaxed. 

"  East  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  it  must  be  remembered,  the 
climate  and  natural  features  of  the  country  are  very  different  from 
those  of  the  great  basin  lying  west  of  them,  so  that  the  popular 
divisions,  Eastern  and  Western  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory, 
are  warranted. 

"  In  the  eastern  section  the  thermometer  is  much  higher  in  sum- 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  647 

mer  and  lower  in  winter  than  in  the  western  section.  The  rain-fall 
is  only  half  as  heavy.  From  June  to  September  there  is  no  rain,  the 
weather  being  perfect  for  harvesting.  The  heat  is  great,  but  not 
nearly  so  oppressive  as  a  much  lower  grade  would  be  in  the  Eastern 
States,  and  the  nights  are  invariably  cool. 

"  The  winters  are  short,  but  occasionally  severe.  Snow  seldom 
falls  before  Christmas,  and  sometimes  lies  from  four  to  six  weeks, 
but  usually  disappears  in  a  few  days.  The  so-called  '  Chinook,'  a 
warm  wind,  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  country  ;  it  blows  periodically, 
and  melts  deep  snows  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours.  This  warm 
atmosphere  is  caused  by  the  passage  of  the  wind  across  the  Japan 
current. 

"  In  Eastern  Oregon  and  Washington  spring  begins  in  February, 
with  warm,  pleasant  weather,  and  lasts  until  the  middle  of  May.  At 
this  season  rain  falls  in  sufficient  quantity  to  give  life  to  vegetation 
and  ensure  good  crops.  The  average  temperature  is  52°. 

"Autumn  weather  in  October  and  November  is  generally  delight- 
ful. There  is  often  frost  by  night,  but  the  days  are  usually  warm 
and  bright.  The  season  is  marked  by  showers,  and  also  by  thunder- 
storms in  some  localities.  The  mercury  ranges  between  55°  and  70°. 

"The  rain-fall  of  the  year  does  not  average  more  than  twenty 
inches.  South  of  the  Snake  River  it  is  not  more  than  fifteen  inches, 
increasing  gradually  tp  the  northward. 

"  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  if  the  rain  were  greatly  in  excess  of 
this  low  average,  damage  would  certainly  ensue  ;  and  it  is  equally 
sure,  if  successful  farming  depended  upon  the  limited  rain-fall,  there 
would  be  poor  harvests.  The  clouds  supply  only  in  part  the  moisture 
which  is  needed.  The  warm-air  currents,  surcharged  with  vapor, 
which  sweep  inland  from  the  ocean  up  the  channel  of  the  Columbia 
River,  prevent  drought.  The  effect  of  these  atmospheric  currents  in 
tempering  the  climate  has  already  been  described.  Their  influence 
upon  the  vegetation  is  no  less  vital.  The  moisture  with  which  they 
are  laden  is  held  in  suspension  during  the  day,  diffused  over  the  face 
of  the  country.  At  night  it  is  condensed  by  the  cooler  temperature, 
and  precipitated  in  the  form  of  a  fine  mist  on  every  exposed  particle 
of  surface  which  earth  and  plant  present.  The  effect  is  that  of  a 
copious  shower.  This  is  apparent  on  taking  a  morning  walk  through 
the  grass,  which  can  only  be  done  at  the  cost  of  wet  feet.  In  this 
region  it  is  no  unusual  phenomenon  for  a  smart  shower  to  fall  when 
clouds  are  invisible  and  the  sun  is  shining.  This  occurrence  is  ex- 
plained also  upon  the  theory  that  the  vapor  in  the  atmosphere  comes 


648 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


in  contact  with  an  upper  current  of  cold  air,  which  causes  rapid  con- 
densation and  consequent  rain.  A  summer  drought,  therefore,  which 
in  most  climates  is  a  calamity,  is  here  a  benefit.  The  soil  needs  no 
more  rains  after  those  of  the  spring  are  over,  and  the  farmer  may  de- 
pend upon  cloudless  skies  at  harvest  time.  For  example,  the  wheat 
crop  of  Eastern  Washington  in  1883  was  6,500,000  bushels,  and  no 
rain  fell  between  May  and  September. 

"The  ordinary  harvest  time  for  wheat  is  from  June  24  to  Sept. 
10 ;  for  oats,  from  July  13-20;  for  barley,  from  June  20  to  July 
I  ;  for  rye,  from  July  i-io;  for  corn,  from  Aug.  20  to  Sept.  10. 

"  Barns  and  sheds  for  keeping  the  grain,  which  are  indispensable 
in  other  countries,  are  scarcely  needed  east  of  the  Cascade  Moun- 


BROADCAST    SOWER. 


tains.  The  grain  is  threshed  in  the  fields  by  machinery,  and  thence 
sent  in  sacks  directly  to  warehouses  for  storage  or  exportation." 

And  this  is  that  portion  of  our  land  which  was  marked,  on  the 
maps  of  our  boyhood,  lands  unfit  for  cultivation.  Then,  before 
actual  experiment  had  disproved  the  conclusion,  the  existence  of 
"bunch  grass"  was  proof  of  sterility;  but  now  it  is  proof  of  fer- 
tility. 

We  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  "bad  lands"  of  Dakota; 
but  these  lands  constitute  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  Territory,  — 
only  ninety-five  thousand  acres  out  of  ninety-four  million  five  hundred 
twenty-eight  thousand.  And  these  lands  are  not  so  "bad  "  after  all ; 
for  these  lands  are  extensively  used  for  grazing,  and  Mr.  G.  V.  Smalley 
of  St.  Paul,  who  speaks  after  careful  examination,  says,  "Cattle  come 
out  of  the  bad  lands  in  the  spring  as  fat  as  though  they  had  been 
stall-fed  all  winter."  Surely  there  is  much  poorer  land  than  that  in 
New  England.  The  United  States  Surveyor-General  says,  "The 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


649 


proportion  of  waste  land  in  Dakota,  owing  to  the  absence  of  swamps, 
mountain-ranges,  overflowed  and  sandy  tracts,  is  less  than  in  any 
other  State  or  Territory  in  the  Union." 

The  opinion  prevails  that  there  is  much  worthless  land  in  Utah. 
It  is  true  to  a  certain  extent,  but  the  quantity  of  worthless  land  in 
that  Territory  is  much  less  than  people  suppose.  The  Surveyor-Gen- 
eral of  the  Territory  says  :  "  Notwithstanding  the  opinion  of  many 
who  deem  our  lands  '  arid,  desert,  and  worthless,'  these  same  lands, 
under  proper  tillage,  produce  forty  to  fifty  bushels  of  wheat,  seventy 
to  eighty  bushels  of  oats  and  barley,  from  two  hundred  to  four  hun- 
dred bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre,  and  fruits  and  vegetables  equal 
to  any  other  State  or  Territory  in  quantity  or  quality." 


MfP  SHOWING  GEOGRAPHICAL  CENTRE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Geographically,  Kansas  is  the  "hub"  of  the  American  Republic. 
An  able  journalist  says  :  — 

"  Kansas  lies  between  the  thirty-seventh  and  fortieth  parallels  of 
latitude,  the  district  which,  the  world  round,  controls  the  destinies 
of  the  globe,  and  the  time  will  come  when  this  State  will  be  the 
powerful  centre  of  the  most  powerful  nation  on  earth.  In  1790 
the  centre  of  population  in  the  United  States  was  in  Maryland,  on 
the  thirty-ninth  parallel,  and  at  every  census  it  has  moved  westward 
very  nearly  along  that  line,  until  now  it  is  just  west  of  Cincinnati 
and  on  its  way  to  Kansas.  The  thirty-ninth  parallel,  which  has  been 
the  thread  upon  which,  as  on  the  necklace  of  the  world,  have  been 


650  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

strung  the  jewels  of  wealth,  culture,  plenty,  luxury,  and  refinement, 
passes  directly  through  the  State  of  Kansas,  through  the  fertile 
Arkansas  Valley." 

The  Commissioner  of  Immigration  furnishes  a  map  to  prove  be- 
yond controversy  that  Kansas  is  the  central  State  of  the  Union.  He 
says :  — 

"The  geographical  centre  of  the  United  States  is  located  near 
Fort  Riley,  not  far  from  the  centre  of  Kansas,  and  near  the  place 
where  Coronado  first  crossed  the  Kansas  River.  Take  a  map  of  the 
United  States  and  fold  it  both  ways,  —  fold  the  ends  together  and 
crease  it  through  the  middle ;  then  place  the  top  and  bottom  edges 
together,  and  crease  the  map  again.  It  will  be  found  that  the  creases 
will  cross  in  Kansas,  as  is  shown  by  the  lines  drawn  at  right  angles 
to  each  other  through  the  middle  of  the  map  on  the  preceding  page. 
With  the  point  where  these  lines  cross  as  a  common  centre,  describe 
circles  including  parts,  or  all  of  the  United  States,  and  the  central 
location  of  the  State  will  at  once  be  apparent.  The  same  circle 
which  passes  through  Boston  passes'  through  San  Francisco." 

Reference  to  the  centre  of  population  in  1790,  by  the  writer  just 
quoted,  adds  interest  to  the  following  table  :  — 

"  It  is  claimed  that  the  centre  of  population  has  moved  westward 
at  the  rate  of  fifty  miles  for  every  ten  years,  since  1790,  which  is  five 
miles  a  year. 

In  1 790  the  centre  of  population  was 22  miles  east  of  Baltimore. 

1800  "  "  "  17  miles  west  of  Baltimore. 

1810  "  "  "  40  miles  northwest  of  Washington. 

1820  "  "  "  1 6  miles  north  of  Woodstock,  Va. 

1830  "  -'9  miles  west  by  southwest  of  Mooland,  W.  Va. 

1840  "  "  "  1 6  miles  west  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va. 

1850  "  "  ...      23  miles  southeast  of  Parkersburg,  W.  Va. 

1860  "  "  "  20  miles  south  of  Chillicothe,  O. 

1870  "  ....      48  miles  east  by  north  of  Cincinnati,  O. 

1880  "  "  ....     .  8  miles  west  by  south  of  Cincinnati,  O. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  corn  is  king  in  the  pivotal  State  of  the 
Union,  though  only  eight  million  of  its  fifty-two  million  acres  are 
under  cultivation.  If  the  State  were  as  thickly  populated  as  Eng- 
land, it  would  contain  thirty-five  million  people,  —  five  times  as  large 
a  population  as  would  be  necessary  to  bring  every  acre  of  its  arable 
land  into  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  If  a  million  and  a  quarter  of 
inhabitants  cultivate  eight  million  acres,  six  million  of  people  will 
bring  the  whole  area  under  the  plough  and  harrow. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  651 

Corn  became  king  in  Kansas  in  1883.  In  1860  the  farmers  of 
that  State  raised  but  six  million  bushels  of  corn;  in  1883  they  raised 
one  hundred  seventy-two  million  bushels,  and  thereby  stepped  to  the 
front.  Moreover,  this  vast  yield  of  corn  was  mostly  sound.  The 
"  Report  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  for  March, 
1884"  says  that  "Kansas,  in  1883,  raised  sixty-two  million  more 
bushels  of  '  merchantable  corn '  than  did  any  other  State  of  the 
Union."  Said  report  furnishes  the  following  very  instructive 
tables : — 

Sound  Corn. 

Bushels.  Bushels. 

Oregon 106,026        Indiana 46,853,800 

Dakota 1,867,721        Texas 57A^>3>133 

Michigan 3,854,214    ,    Kentucky 64,125,476 

Wisconsin 4,008,481    [    Nebraska 67,856,863 

New  York 6,129,445        Illinois 73*363,140 

Mississippi 23,236,532    :    Missouri 96,993,000 

Ohio 27,952,800    ;    Kansas 158,976,828 

Iowa 44,103,540 

That  the  reader  may  gather  an  idea  of  the  exact  force  of  these 
figures,  the  per  cent  of  corn  raised  in  the  various  States  which  was 
actually  merchantable  is  given  :  — 

Oregon 9^    :   Indiana 49 

Wisconsin 17       Missouri 60 

Michigan 1 8      Nebraska 67 

Iowa 26    '   Kentucky 82 

New  York 35    ',  Texas      . 91 

Illinois 36       Mississippi 92 

Dakota 38   |   Kansas .     .  92 

Ohio 38 

The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  shows,  also,  the 
number  of  bushels  per  acre  raised  in  the  best  corn-growing  States  in 
1883,  and  Kansas  leads  the  van  :  — 

Bushels  per  Acre. 

South  Carolina 8.O   |    New  York      .     .  • 23.0 

•Georgia 8.7       Oregon 23.5 

Mississippi 13-5       Kentucky 24.0 

Arkansas 17.5       Colorado 25.0 

Texas 17.5       Illinois 25.0 

Dakota 18.2       Indiana 27.0 

Tennessee 20.0       Missouri 27.5 

Minnesota 20.8       Kansas 3^-7 

Wisconsin           .     .  21.0 


652 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


One  who  has  examined  the  reports  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  for  the  aggregate  production  of  wheat  in  Kansas, 
says  :  — 

"Kansas  produced  more  corn  to  the  acre  than  did  any  other  State 
or  Territory.  Kansas  produced  sixty-two  million  more  bushels  of  mer- 
chantable corn  than  did  any  other  State  or  Territory.  Kansas  pro- 
duced, in  1883,  more  corn  than  did  any  other  State  excepting  Illinois, 
and  at  the  present  rate  of  increase  will  outrank  Illinois  in  1884. 
When  one  remembers  these  four  facts,  he  cannot  but  acknowledge  that 
Kansas  is  the  first  corn  State  in  the  Union.  This,  of  itself,  is  suffi- 
cient to  crown  Kansas  chief  of  the  farming  States,  if  no  other  crops 
were  thought  of. 


TWO-ROWED    CORN-PLANTER. 

"  A  careful  examination  of  the  official  statistics  as  to  wheat  will 
prove  that  no  State  outranks  Kansas  in  the  profitable  production  of 
this  cereal.  In  1860  the  aggregate  yield  for  the  whole  State  was 
194,173  bushels.  In  1870  it  had  increased  to  but  2,391,198  bush- 
els. In  1882  the  average  yield  per  acre  was  23.17  bushels,  the 
total  yield  35,734,846  bushels.  In  1883  the  yield  fell  to  26,851, 100 
bushels,  Dakota  producing  16,128,000,  and  Oregon  13,122,400  bush- 
els. In  1883  only  one  State,  Colorado,  produced  more  wheat  to  the 
acre  and  got  more  money  from  each  acre  of  wheat  than  did  Kansas, 
and  the  limited  area  which  Colorado  can  devote  to  wheat-raising 
takes  her  out  of  the  list  of  rivals.  For  the  product  of  each  acre  in. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


653 


wheat  Kansas  farmers  got  sixty-five  cents  more  than  did  those  of 
California,  $2.13  more  than  the  dwellers  in  Dakota,  and  $3.25  more 
than  the  men  of  Minnesota.  Herewith  is  given  the  number  of 
bushels  per  acre  raised  in  1883  in  various  States.  Colorado,  which 
yielded  twenty-one  bushels  to  the  acre,  is  omitted  for  reasons  pre- 
viously given. 

Bushels  of  Wheat. 


Kansas ...17.5 

Dakota 16.0 

Nebraska 15.5 

California I3-O 

Minnesota 13.0 


New  York 10.3 

Ohio     .          10.0 

Illinois 10.0 

Texas 8.5 

Arkansas  .......                .  6.1 


EMPIRE  GRAIN-DRILL. 


The  number  of  bushels  of  wheat  raised  in  Kansas  in  various  years 
from  1860  to  1883  was  as  follows  :  — 


1860 194,173 

1870 2,391,198 

1872 3,062,941 

1873 5,994,044 

1874 .  9,881,383 

'875 13,209,403 

1876 14,620,225 


1877 :  .  .  .  .  14,316,705 

1878 32,315*358 

1880 17,324,141 

1881 20,479,579 

1882 35,734,846 

1883 26,851,100 


6$4 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  yield  of  oats  in  Kansas  is  scarcely  less  remarkable  than  that 
of  wheat  The  following  comparative  statement  of  the  number  of 
bushels  of  o?ts  per  acre  in  1883  is  derived  from  official  sources  :  — 


Arkansas J4-4 

Texas 22.8 

Missouri 28.7 

Colorado 29.3 

Wisconsin 30.4 

Minnesota 33.1 


Iowa 34-1 

Michigan 84.6 

Illinois 36.1 

Nebraska 40.0' 

Dakota 42 . 9 

Kansas 44-6 


In  1884  Kansas  sowed  fifteen  per  cent  more  acreage  of  oats  than 
in  1883.  The  State  produced,  also,  49,1 13,000  bushels  of  wheat,  which 
was  13,000,000  more  bushels  than  any  State  raised  in  1883.  Other 
statistics  prove  that  farming  in  Kansas  is  diversified  notwithstanding 
the  prominence  of  corn  and  wheat.  The  rye  crop  of  the  State  was  : — 

No.  Bushels.  Value. 

1877 2,525,054  $806,092 

1878 2,722,008  816,602 

1883 5,084,39!  1,666,909.70 

Other  Farm  Products 

Stands  of  bees  in  1883 19,752 

Pounds  of  honey 325,000 

Pounds  of  cheese 59i,77<> 

Pounds  of  butter 23,947,016 

Pounds  of  sugar  made  from  sorghum 600,000 

Gallons  of  syrup 4,684,023 

Acres  of  sorghum  in  1883  .     .          102,042 

Value  of  sorghum  cane  per  acre $20.17 

Total  value  of  product  of  sorghum  fields $2,058,127.60 

The  per  cent  of  returns  on  money  invested  in  farming  lands,  offi- 
cially stated,  puts  Kansas  again  at  the  head  of  the  roll  of  honor.  In 
Pennsylvania  it  is  13^ per  cent;  Ohio,  13!;  New  Jersey,  15^;  Massa- 
chusetts, i6£;  New  York,  i6f ;  Maryland,  17!;  Indiana,  18^;  Mich- 
igan, 18^;  Illinois,  20^;  Wisconsin,  20^ ;  Virginia,  2I-J;  Kentucky, 
2\\ ;  Kansas,  22\. 

The  value  of  Kansas  farms  is  a  very  significant  item.  It  is  the 
value  of  only  the  21,417,468  acres  now  in  farms,  and  does  not  include 
the  more  than  30,000,000  acres  not  in  farms.  These  farms  are  valued 
at  only  $10.98  per  acre,  while  Massachusetts  farms  average  $43.52  ; 
Connecticut,  $49.34;  New  York,  $44.41 ;  Pennsylvania,  $49.30;  Ohio, 
$45.97  ;  Michigan,  $36.15  ;  and  Illinois  farms  $31.87  per  acre.  The 
following  is  the  comparative  value  of  farms  in  1883  :  — 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  655 


Dakota $22,401,048 

Colorado 25,109,223 

Oregon 56.908,575 


North  Carolina $135,793.602 

Texas 170,468,886 

Kansas 235,178,936 


Arkansas     . 74,249,655   j  True  Valuation  of  all  property 

Nebraska 105,932,541          in  Kansas $402,864,163.22 

Georgia 111,910,540 

We  have  quoted  the  value  of  the  honey  product  of  Kansas,  which 
is  but  a  fair  illustration  of  the  value  of  this  industry  all  through  the 
New  West.  It  is  a  land  of  flowers,  sweet-scented  and  beautiful. 
The  bee  finds  it  a  natural  home,  and  gathers  sweets  from  its  vast 
area  of  floral  wealth.  A  tourist  writes  of  the  flowers  of  Kansas  as 
follows :  — 

"  Can  you  picture  to  yourself  ten  acres  of  portulaca  ?  or  whole 
hillsides  curtained  with  what  seems  a  superb  variety  of  wisteria,  ex- 
cept that  it  grows  on  a  stalk  instead  of  hanging  from  a  vine  ?  Do 
you  know  how  it  feels  not  to  be  able  to  step  without  crushing  a 
flower,  so  that  the  little  prairie  dogs,  sitting  contentedly  with  their 
intimate  friends  the  owls  on  the  little  heaps  of  earth  thrown  up 
around  their  holes,  have  every  appearance  of  having  planted  their 
own  front  yards  with  the  choicest  floral  varieties  ?  Think  of  driving 
into  a  great  field  of  sunflowers,  the  horses  trampling  down  the  tall 
stalks,  that  spring  up  again  behind  the  carriage,  so  that  one  outside 
the  field  would  never  know  that  a  carriage-load  of  people  were  any- 
where in  it ;  or,  riding  through  a  *  grove '  of  them,  the  blossoms  tow- 
ering out  of  reach  as  you  sit  on  horseback,  and  a  tall  hedge  of  them 
grown  up  as  a  barrier  between  you  and  your  companion  !  Not  a  daisy, 
or  a  buttercup,  or  a  clover,  or  a  dandelion,  will  you  see  all  summer ; 
but  new  flowers  too  exquisite  for  belief ;  the  great  white  prickly  pop- 
pies, and  the  sensitive  rose,  with  its  leaves  delicate  as  a  maiden-hair 
fern,  and  its  blossom  a  countless  mass  of  crimson  stamens  tipped 
with  gold,  and  faintly  fragrant.  Even  familiar  flowers  are  unfamiliar 
in  size,  profusion,  and  color.  What  at  home  would  be  a  daisy  is  here 
the  size  of  a  small  sunflower,  with  petals  of  delicate  rose-pink,  vary- 
ing from  a  cone-shaped  centre  of  rich  maroon  shot  with  gold." 

The  same  writer  describes  another  scene  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  was  a  river  of  flowers  ;  I  do  not  know  how  else  to  describe  it. 
A  deep  hollow,  like  the  dried  channel  of  a  river,  perhaps  nearly  half  a 
mile  long,  completely  filled,  between  bank  and  bank,  with  a  mass  of 
most  exquisite  pink  flowers.  Not  a  green  leaf  nor  a  stalk  could  be 
seen,  and  there  was  not  a  break  in  the  broad  surface  of  bloom  ;  though 
the  flower  itself,  when  examined,  proved  to  be  the  tiniest  of  things ; 


656 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


something  not  unlike  the  little  white  sweet-clover  that  we  find  in 
eastern  garden-beds ;  only  of  a  most  wonderful  rose-color.  The 
curious  part  of  it  was  that  nq£  a  single  one  of  the  flowers  could  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  meadow,  even  a  foot  beyond  the  river-bed ; 

they  were  concentrated 
there,  and  only  there,  and 
lay  like  a  broad  pink  rib- 
bon on  the  prairie  ;  a  bit  of 
landscape  gardening  which 
I  have  never  seen  a  land- 
scape gardener  able  to  sur- 
pass. 

"  If  I  were  to  chronicle 
the  flowers  as  they  ap- 
peared, I  might  date  my 

prayers,  as  Miss  did 

her  diary,  'The  day  we 
found  the  first  sensitive 
rose' ;  'the  day  we  drove 
over  to  the  Elk  House  to 
see  the  prickly  pear  with 
sixty  blossoms  on  it'; 
'  the  day  we  saw  the  sun- 
flower twenty  feet  high ' ; 
'  the  day  that  I,  a  member 
of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
tection of  Animals,  which 
ought  to  include  flowers, 
trampled  down  half  an  acre 
of  crimson  portulaca, 
because  I  couldn't  find 
room  for  my  horse's  feet 
where  there  wasn't  a  blos- 
som,' etc.,  etc.  But  I  have 
grown  fond  of  large  figures 
since  I  have  known  the 
West,  and  am  tempted  to 
mass  my  flowers  as  nature  does  there,  and  give  them  all  to  you  at 
once.  Ah!  If  my  page  could  only  glow  with  their  color!  There 
were  very  few  of  the  flowers  we  had  known  at  the  East ;  many 
were  not  even  in  the  botanies." 


SUNFLOWERS. 


MARVELS   OF  AGRICULTURE. 


657 


Raising  broom  corn  is  a  valuable  industry  of  Kansas.  Last  year 
about  thirty  thousand  acres  were  planted,  which  yielded  twenty 
million  pounds,  valued  at  $700,000.  The  illustration  shows  the 
method  of  baling  and  shipping  the  crop. 

Tree-planting  is  another  prosperous  industry,  not  only  in  Kansas, 
but  in  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  New  West. 

.In  1 88 1  there  was  in  Kansas  the  following  number  of  acres  in 
planted  forest :  — 


Walnut 5,895 

Maple 6,453 

Honey  Locust 1,215 

Cotton  wood  .          39,io8 


Osage  Orange 617 

Catalpa 788 

Other  varieties 38,763 

Total 92,839 


BROOM    CORN. 

Since  that  time  the  acreage  of  tree-planting  has  rapidly  increased. 
The  governor  of  Kansas  said,  in  his  "  Arbor  Day  "  proclamation,  that 
"  the  State  which  the  pioneers  found  almost  treeless  and  a  desert, 
now  bears  upon  its  fertile  bosom  twenty  million  fruit  trees  and  more 
than  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  forest  trees,  all  planted  by  our 
own  people."  A  writer  says  :  — 

"  These  groves  have  attained  a  height  of  from  fifteen  to  sixty  feet, 
the  trees  having  a  diameter  of  three  to  fifteen  inches.  The  annual 
growth  is  from  one  to  two  inches  diameter,  and  a  four  or  five  year 


658  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

old  forest  will  thereafter  furnish  a  good  supply  of  fuel  for  the  family. 
In  the  homestead  counties,  where  the  Government  has  stimulated  arti- 
ficial forestry  by  the  '  Timber  Act,'  giving  any  man,  or  head  of  family, 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  on  the  condition  of  his  or  her 
planting  forty  acres  of  the  same  in  timber  and  caring  for  it  seven 
years,  beautiful  groves  of  cottonwood,  ash,  box-elder,  maple,  and 
walnut  dot  the  country  in  every  direction,  and  lend  a  charm  to  the 
prairie  landscape  quite  beyond  the  power  of  description.  These 
charming  groves  will  be  as  numerous  and  noteworthy,  in  the  near 
future  of  Kansas,  as  the  orchards  of  Michigan  and  Western  New 
York.  Columns  of  forest  trees  outline  the  farms  and  highways  for 
miles  and  miles,  in  many  districts,  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a 
farmer  to  plant  ten  thousand  young  trees  in  a  single  year.  With  the 
pretty  valley  timber  belts  and  artificial  groves  grown  into  stateliness, 
ten  years  from  to-day  Kansas  will  be  one  grand  continuous  park,  and 
the  most  beautiful  country  under  the  sun.  Beyond  the  question  of 
abundant  and  cheap  fuel,  building  and  fencing  timber,  and  embellish- 
ment of  landscape,  which  are  involved  in  extended  tree-planting,  these 
groves  will  superinduce  rainfall,  temper  the  February  and  March 
winds,  and  give  increased  equability  to  the  climate." 

The  State  of  Nebraska  originated  "Arbor  Day";  thanks  for  the 
public  enterprise  of  its  citizens.  Minnesota  was  the  first  State  to 
copy  Nebraska's  example,  and  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
trees  were  planted  in  that  State  on  its  first  "  Arbor  Day."  Now,  the 
States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Missouri  River  make  tree-planting 
an  important  industry. 

Nebraska  not  only  originated  "Arbor  Day,"  but  enacted  stringent 
laws,  also,  for  the  protection  of  trees,  and  made  very  liberal  provisions 
to  encourage  tree-planting,  as  follows  :  — 

"The  Nebraska  State  constitution  provides  that  'the  increased 
value  of  lands  by  reason  of  live  fences,  fruit  and  forest  trees  grown 
and  cultivated  thereon  shall  not  be  taken  into  consideration  in  the 
assessment  thereof.'  A  State  law  'exempts  from  taxation  for  five 
years  $100  valuation  for  each  acre  of  fruit  trees  planted,  and  $50  for 
each  acre  of  forest  trees ' ;  also  makes  it  obligatory  that  '  the  corpo- 
rate authorities  of  cities  and  villages  in  the  State  shall  cause  shade 
trees  to  be  planted  along  the  streets  thereof.' 

"  Further :  '  Any  person  who  shall  injure  or  destroy  the  shade 
tree  or  trees  of  another,  or  permit  his  or  her  animals  to  do  the  same, 
shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $5,  nor  more  than  $50  for 
each  tree  injured  or  destroyed.' 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  659 

"  To  encourage  growing  live  fences  the  law  permits  planting  '  pre- 
cisely on  the  line  of  the  road  or  highway,  and  for  its  protection  to 
occupy,  for  a  term  of  seven  years,  six-feet  of  the  road  or  highway.' ' 

Other  States  and  Territories  of  the  New  West  soon  followed  the 
good  example  of  Nebraska. 

From  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  we  learn 
that  "from  1854  up  to  and  including  the  year  1882,  covering  a  period 
of  twenty-eight  years,  official  statistics,  with  some  reliable  estimates 
to  cover  dates  not  thus  provided,  it  is  found  there  has  been  planted 
within  the  borders  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Nebraska  244,356 
acres  of  forest  trees.  This  includes  seedlings,  seeds,  and  cuttings 
planted  in  permanent  forests,  groves,  and  along  highways  and  streets 
in  cities  and  villages.  Spontaneous  indigenous  growth,  since  fires 
have  been  kept  from  borders  of  streams  and  ravines,  is  estimated 
equal  to  half  the  area  planted." 

"It  is  safe  to  say  a  majority  of  planting  is  made,  originally,  four 
feet  by  four,  with  view  to  cutting  out  first  one-half,  as  growth  de- 
mands space,  and  eventually  another  half  of  that  remaining  —  three- 
fourths  in  all.  Some  plant  six  by  six,  others  eight  by  eight.  Planted 
four  by  four  we  have  2,622  trees  to  the  acre,  or  a  total  of  640,701,- 
432 ;  eight  by  eight,  682  to  the  acre,  or  a  total  of  166,680,792.  Aver- 
age the  totals,  and  there  is  shown  403,676,112.  Add  to  the  average 
the  spontaneous  estimate,  one-half,  and  the  grand  total  is,  planted 
and  grown  in  28  years,  605,514,168  trees." 

The  National  Government  encourages  tree-planting  on  its  public 
domain,  by  what  is  known  as  "The  Timber  Act."  The  original  pas- 
sage of  the  act  occurred  in  1873,  and  was  amended  in  1874.  In  1878 
it  was  amended  again,  and  put  into  its  present  shape.  During  the 
first  ten  years  of  its  existence,  93,246  filings,  covering  13,637,146 
acres,  were  made  —  all  but  one  million  acres  of  the  whole  in  the  New 
West ;  a  fact  that  proves  the  Far  West  to  be  largely  in  advance  of  the 
East  in  this  important  industry. 

Most  of  the  railroad  companies  of  the  New  West  have  engaged  in 
forestry,  along  their  respective  lines,  and  produced  remarkable  results. 
The  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad  Company  employed  a 
forester  for  several  years  ;  and  the  same  was  true  of  other  railroad 
companies.  The  first  object  sought  was  to  learn  whether  the  soil  and 
climate  were  favorable  to  the  growth  of  trees ;  and  what  kind  of 
trees  were  best  adapted  to  different  localities.  Cottonwood,  box- 
elder,  black  walnut,  green  ash,  ailanthus,  catalpa,  elm,  honey  locust, 
gray  willow,  soft  maple,  and  osage  orange  were  the  principal  varieties 


660  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

of  trees  planted.  Their  growth  was  marvellous.  In  eight  years 
some  of  the  cottonwoods  were  fifty  feet  high  ;  honey  locust,  twenty- 
five  ;  gray  willows,  forty  ;  box-elder,  black  walnut,  and  maples,  twenty. 

A  report  of  the  Missouri  River,  Fort  Scott  &  Gulf  Railroad, 
October,  1882,  says:  — 

"Three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  are  planted,  and  we  are  now 
planting  180  acres  more.  That  will  be  finished  before  winter  sets 
in,  or  before  April  I,  1883.  The  plantation  consists  of  catalpa  (spe- 
ciosa),  with  the  exception  of  a  few  acres.  They  are  all  planted  4  by 
4  feet  apart,  containing  2,720  trees  to  the  acre.  The  land  is  prepared 
same  as  for  corn,  and  the  trees  are  planted  with  spades.  The  catalpa- 
trees  planted  in  1878,  after  four  summers'  growth,  are  10  to  15  feet 
high  and  2\  to  3^  inches  in  diameter.  Three  years  planted,  5  to  9 
feet ;  two  years  planted,  3^  to  6  feet  (a  drought  last  year)  ;  one  year 
planted,  3  to  4  feet.  On  rich  la-nd  these  trees  shade  the  ground 
after  two  years'  cultivation.  On  poorer  land  they  require  three 
years'  cultivation. 

"  On  the  Hunnewell  plantation,  three  miles  from  Farlington,  we 
have  already  planted  175  acres  catalpa  (speciosd)  and  ailanthus,  and  60 
acres  of  the  white  ash.  The  catalpa  are  one  and  two  years  planted  ; 
we  will  have  285  acres  on  the  above  plantation  between  now  and 
April  next,  all  catalpa  and  ailanthus,  making  560  acres  on  the  Hun- 
newell plantation.  Our  contract  requires  2,000  trees  to  the  acre 
when  they  are  4  to  6  feet  high.  Nearly  every  acre  on  both  planta- 
tions will  contain  2,500  trees ;  every  acre  will  contain  over  2,000 
trees." 

The  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain  &  Southern  Railroad  reported  about 
the  same  time  :  — 

"  We  have  no  trees  planted  on  our  road  excepting  50,000  catalpa- 
trees  on  right  of  way  near  Charleston,  Mo.  We  have  a  plantation  or 
farm  of  catalpa-trees  (100,000  trees)  on  Belmont  branch,  eighteen  miles 
from  Belmont,  Mo.  The  above  were  all  raised  from  seed.  We  also 
have  a  catalpa  farm  of  250,000  trees  at  Bertrand,  Mo.,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Bird's  Point,  on  the  Cairo  branch  of  this  road.  These  were 
planted  in  June,  1880,  from  slips.  Have  been  cultivated  twice,  and 
are  now  in  fine,  thrifty  condition.  Will  average  about  eight  feet  high, 
and  will  not  require  any  cultivation  after  next  year." 

Mr.  Crofutt  said  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  at  that  time,  which 
planted  immense  numbers  of  the  eucalyptus,  or  Australian  blue  gum- 
tree  :  — 

"These  trees  are  planted  along  the  sides  of  the  streets,  around 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE* 


66 1 


public  buildings,  in  the  grounds  of  private  residences,  and  by  the 
Railroad  Company  in  immense  quantities.  The  latter  had  300,000 
of  these  trees  growing  beside  their  road  and  around  their  stations  in 
the  year  1877,  and  we  understand  500,000  more  are  to  be  set  out  as 
soon  as  they  can  be  procured.  One  peculiarity  of  this  tree,  besides 
its  being  an  evergreen  and  unusually  thrifty,  is,  that  it  will  grow  on 
the  most  sandy,  alkaline,  dry,  and  barren  soil,  and  it  is  said  to  be  a 
sure  preventive  against  chills  and  fever,  where  it  is  grown  in  profu- 
Some  claim  that  it  is  fire-proof,  and  that  shingles  or  plank 


sion. 


sawed  from  these  trees  will  not  burn,  and  for  that  reason  they  are 
very  much  esteemed  in  Australia,  —  its  native  country,  —  and  from 


PIONEER    FARMER'S   HOME  IN   MONTANA. 

which  the  first  on  this  coast  were  imported.  There  are  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  known  species  of  the  eucalypti,  about  fifty  of  which 
are  found  in  California." 

The  foregoing  facts  are  sufficient  to  introduce  the  reader  to  a 
charming  industry  which  is  comparatively  unknown  in  the  East. 
Here  shade  trees  are  chiefly  planted  for  beauty  and  comfort  ;  but  in 
the  New  West  both  of  these  objects  are  secured  together  with  large 
profits. 

Eastern  people  wonder  over  the  rush  of  farmers  into  Dakota, 
Montana,  and  other  sparsely  populated  portions  of  the  New  West. 
The  gold-fields  of  California  never  created  more  enthusiasm  among 
enterprising  men  than  have  the  wheat-lands  of  Dakota.  A  traveller 
who  saw  for  himself,  two  years  ago  or  more,  said  :  - 


662  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

"  They  are  coming  by  excursions,  in  regular  trains,  sleepers,  and 
stock  cars  ;  by  carriages,  white-covered  wagons,  on  horseback,  and  on 
foot.  They  are  coming  by  battalions  and  columns,  by  townships 
and  counties,  all  flocking  out  here  to  settle  Dakota.  Every  shade  of 
business,  every  class  of  men  and  women,  are  represented.  The 
lawyer  has  left  his  brief,  the  doctor  his  patients,  the  merchant  locked 
his  store,  the  banker  closed  his  bank,  the  mechanic  dropped  his  tools, 
the  laborer  quit  his  work,  the  farmer  sold  his  possessions,  the  teacher 
resigned  his  position,  and  all  rush  pell-mell  for  Dakota  to  secure  a 
quarter-section  of  her  dirt  —  the  sure  foundation  of  a  fortune.  Some 
come  for  health,  and  all  for  wealth,  but  few  are  dissatisfied.  Hun- 
dreds who  emptied  their  pocket-books  to  obtain  the  fourteen  dollars 
necessary  to  file  upon  their  land  three  years  ago  are  to-day  worth 
from  two  to  three  thousand  dollars,  with  good  farms  and  happy 
homes." 

The  pioneer  who  was  content  and  happy  with  his  humble  accom- 
modations for  a  few  years,  as  seen  in  the  foregoing  illustration,  found 
ample  reward  for  his  labor  and  self-denial  in  his  future  independence 
and  competency.  An  actual  fact  will  confirm  this  statement. 

A  pioneer  farmer  from  New  Hampshire  rented  an-  eighty-acre 
farm  in  Montana,  in  1870,  on  which  there  was  a  small  log  cabin  and 
barn.  Without  capital,  and  with  but  one  team,  he  raised  two  thou- 
sand four  hundred  bushels  of  wheat,  which  he  sold  for  enough  to 
enable  him  to  purchase  the  farm,  pay  some  old  debts,  and  settle  his 
family  thereon,  the  next  year.  Another  larger  crop  still  replenished 
his  purse,  and  sent  him  on  his  way  rejoicing.  Then  he  fought  grass- 
hoppers two  years,  and  harvested  fair  crops  notwithstanding  their 
ravages.  In  1875  he  cleared  something  over  four  thousand  dollars  ; 
and  in  1877  he  raised  a  large  crop  of  barley,  from  which  he  realized 
five  thousand  dollars.  The  other  crops  raised  that  year  were  suffi- 
cient to  pay  hired  help  and  incidental  expenses,  so  that  the  barley 
crop  was  a  net  profit.  The  largest  crop  raised  any  single  year  was 
in  1 88 1,  when  he  threshed  twelve  thousand  bushels.  Ascertaining 
that  his  land  was  well  adapted  to  raising  barley  for  brewers'  use,  he 
devoted  considerable  of  his  fields  to  it,  the  last  three  crop's  amounting 
to  from  five  to  seven  thousand  dollars  annually.  His  large  crop 
raised  last  year  would  have  exceeded  any  other  had  it  not  been  for 
the  low  prices  caused  by  competition  inaugurated  by  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad.  The  wheat  crop  of  his  farm  last  year  yielded  some- 
thing over  twelve  hundred  sacks  of  flour.  The  only  crop  failure 
during  the  past  thirteen  years  occurred  in  1876,  we  believe,  when  his 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


663 


five-hundred-acre  field  of  growing  grain  was  completely  destroyed  by 
a  hail-storm,  the  loss  of  which  was  fully  ten  thousand  dollars.  The 
work  of  the  storm  was  so  complete  that  he  did  not  raise  enough  for 
seed.  Yet,  with  this  failure  and  the  disadvantage  of  starting  with 
nothing  and  overburdened  with  several  thousand  dollars  of  debts 
contracted  in  mining  operations,  he  has  achieved  a  great  success  at 
farming.  His  herd  of  cattle  has  increased  to  over  one  hundred  head, 
and  they  are  of  the  best  Shorthqrn  stock,  and  among  which  there 
are  quite  a  number  of  first-class  milch  cows.  His  herd  of  mares, 
young  colts,  and  yearlings  numbers  upwards  of  sixty  head,  and  they, 
too,  are  good  stock,  for  he  will  have  no  other.  While  speaking  of 


PLEASANT  VIEW  FARM. 


some  of  his  accumulations,  it  may  be  well  to  mention  that  he  has  a 
fine  meadow  and  breeding  farm  bordering  on  the  Missouri  River,  and 
a  ferry  on  a  direct  road  leading  to  Helena,  a  large  steam  saw-mill, 
shingle,  lath,  and  planing  mill,  well  located,  the  result  of  his  farm. 

The  above  is  the  farm  as  it  now  is  —  known  as  "  Pleasant  View 
Farm,"  Missouri  Valley,  Meagher  Co.,  Mon. 

Another  farmer,  in  Gallatin  Co.,  Mon.,  began  in  a  small  way 
twenty  years  ago,  gradually  enlarging  his  farm  as  the  sale  of  his 
crops  enabled  him  to  make  purchases,  until,  at  the  end  of  ten  years, 
his  farm  embraced  six  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  all  of  which  he 
fenced  and  divided  into  mowing-fields  and  pastures.  He  put  up 
seven  miles  of  fence  on  his  farm. 


664  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  result  of  his  last  ten  years'  operations  is  of  special  interest. 
In  1875  his  crop,  seventy  acres  of  spring  wheat,  yielded  three  thou- 
sand bushels,  and  from  ten  acres  of  oats  he  threshed  six  hundred 
bushels.  The  grasshoppers  in  1866  were  so  numerous  that  he  did 
not  put  in  any  crop.  He  summer-fallowed  his  land,  and  devoted  his 
time  to  building  his  dwelling  and  making  other  improvements.  In 
1877  he  cultivated  one  hundred  acres,  raising  three  thousand  eight 
hundred  bushels  of  wheat  and  about  six  hundred  bushels  of  oats. 
The  grain  was  invaded  by  grasshoppers,  which  reduced  the  yield 
materially,  yet  the  crop  was  profitable,  as  he  sold  the  wheat  at  a 
dollar  a  bushel.  In  1878  he  bought  and  farmed  more  land.  From 
sixty  acres  of  sod-land  he  threshed  sixteen  hundred  bushels  of  wheat, 
while  the  old  land  yielded  about  the  same  as  formerly.  The  entire 
crop,  except  oats,  which  he  used  for  feed,  was  marketed  at  one  dollar 
per  bushel.  From  one  hundred  acres  of  winter  wheat  raised  in  1879 
he  threshed  three  thousand  six  hundred  bushels,  and  his  ten-acre  oats 
crop  yielded  five  hundred  bushels.  The  markets  were  dull  that  year, 
and  he  was  able  to  realize  only  about  eighty  cents  a  bushel  for  wheat. 
In  1880  his  crop  of  one  hundred  acres  of  wheat  yielded  something 
over  three  thousand  eight  hundred  bushels.  His  oats  crop  of  a  little 
less  than  twenty  acres  amounted  to  eighteen  hundred  bushels,  which 
sold  readily  at  one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound.  The  wheat  crop, 
however,  was  damaged  by  frost,  and  was  sold  at  from  fifty  cents  to 
one  dollar  per  bushel,  the  crop  averaging  about  seventy-five  cents  per 
bushel.  The  year  1881  his  farm  of  one  hundred  acres,  sown  and 
raised,  yielded  three  thousand  nine  hundred  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
from  ten  acres  of  oats  the  yield  was  seven  hundred  bushels.  He 
made  flour  of  the  wheat,  and  sold  the  same  at  three  dollars  per  sack. 
The  oats  he  sold  at  one  and  a  half  cents  per  pound.  In  1882,  from 
sixty  acres  of  oats  he  threshed  four  thousand  eight  hundred  bushels, 
and  from  fifty  acres  of  wheat  he  threshed  two  thousand  five  hundred 
eighty  bushels.  The  crop  of  1883  was  eighty-four  and  one-half  acres 
of  wheat,  which  yielded  three  thousand  four  hundred  bushels,  and 
twenty-four  and  one-half  acres  of  oats  threshed  seventeen  hundred 
bushels.  The  oats  were  marketed  at  a  dollar  and  ten  cents  per  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  the  wheat  made  into  flour  is  selling  at  the  rate  of 
from  fifty  to  eighty-five  cents  per  bushel,  which  was  quite  satisfactory 
to  the  proprietor. 

In  addition  to  farming,  the  proprietor  of  this  farm,  which  is  now 
known  as  the  "Albino  Park  Farm,"  added  stock-raisingj  in  a  limited 
way,  to  his  enterprise  ;  and  now  his  farm,  horses,  and  cattle  are  worth 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


665 


thirty  thousand  dollars,  though  he  would  not  sell  out  for  that  amount. 
The  following  cut  gives  a  good  view  of  the  farm  as  it  now  is. 

Although  Montana  has  fourteen  million  acres  of  heavy  forest, 
the  Territory  has  sixteen  million  acres  of  land  suitable  for  cultiva- 
tion. In  1880  Montana  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list,  in  number  of 
bushels  of  wheat,  rye,  and  oats  raised  per  acre.  A  bulletin  from  the 
Agricultural  Bureau  at  Washington  showed  that  in  the  year  1880 
the  total  number  of  acres  sown  in  wheat  in  the  Territory  was  seven- 
teen thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  the  total  product  was 
four  hundred  and  sixty-nine  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-eight 


ALBINO  PARK  FARM. 

bushels.  This  is  something  over  an  average  of  twenty-six  and  three- 
fourths  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  closest  competitors  are  Washing- 
ton Territory,  which  averaged  twenty-three  bushels  to  the  acre,  and 
Colorado,  which  produced  twenty-two  bushels.  Utah  only  produced 
some  sixteen  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  California,  fifteen  bushels ;  Minne- 
sota, between  eleven  and  twelve  bushels  ;  and  Ohio,  the  largest  wheat- 
growing  State  in  the  Union,  but  eighteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  Tests 
also  made  at  Washington  by  the  government  authorities  have  dem- 
onstrated that  Montana  wheat  produces  stronger  flour,  and  a  larger 
quantity,  than  any  produced  by  the  best  wheat-growing  districts  in 
the  Union.  To  realize,  too,  the  extent  of  Montana's  wheat  product 
per  acre,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  that  the  average  per  acre 


666  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

throughout  the  United  States  is  only  a  fraction  over  twelve  bushels. 
The  bulletin  showed  that  in  nearly  all  the  cereal  products  Montana 
averaged  a  higher  number  of  bushels  per  acre  than  the  United  States, 
as  follows  :  — 

UNITED   STATES.  MONTANA. 

Average  per  Acre.  Average  per  Acre. 

Wheat 12   bushels.  26^  bushels. 

Rye 10        "  28          " 

Oats 25        "  37          " 

Indian  Corn 28         "  28 

Buckwheat 13         "  12  " 

Barley 22         "  30  " 

The  high  northern  altitude  of  Montana  does  not  appear  to  be  un- 
favorable to  the  rapid  and  thrifty  growth  of  the  cereals.  Contrary 
to  the  ideas  of  Eastern  people,  who  shiver  when  they  think  of  dwell- 
ing so  far  north,  the  climate  and 
rich  soil  appear  to  be  adapted 
to  each  other,  so  that  large  re- 
ward for  light  labors  is  the  far- 
mer's experience. 

Robert  E.  Strahorn,  who 
speaks  from  observation,  has 
so  much  valuable  information 
to  impart  concerning  Montana, 

CART  SPREADER.  that      WC      <!UOte      hlm      at      SOmC 

length :  — 

"  An  ex-surveyor-general  of  the  Territory  estimates  that  there  is, 
in  the  .more  prominent  valleys  alone,  room  for  thirty-six  thousand 
first-class  farms  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each,  while  another  is 
of  opinion  that  there  is  a  strictly  agricultural  domain  here  greater  in 
extent  than  the  entire  area  of  Ohio.  .  .  . 

"  Irrigation  has  generally  been  considered  a  necessity,  although  I 
know  of  localities  in  Montana  in  which  from  twenty-five  to  forty 
bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre  were  produced  without  it  the  past  sea- 
son. Thousands  of  acres  of  the  richest  and  warmest  soils  —  those 
found  high  up  on  bluff  and  mountain  sides  —  were  in  1877  sown  with 
fall  wheat,  and  the  harvest  last  year  of  this  grain,  produced  without 
irrigation,  was  so  bountiful  that  many  farmers  who  have  hitherto 
raised  spring  wheat  exclusively  in  the  valleys,  are  now  resorting  to 
the  hitherto  despised  highlands.  Snow  falls  deeper  on  these  alti- 
tudes than  in  the  valleys,  and  keeps  the  grain  well  covered  during 
much  of  the  winter.  However,  the  most  conservative  engineers  and 


MARVELS   OF  AGRICULTURE. 


667 


others  who  are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  country,  and  whose  opin- 
ion is  entitled  to  credence,  admit  that  three-fourths  of  the  entire 
agricultural  area,  or  twelve  million  acres,  can  be  irrigated.  The 
thirty  thousand  acres  now  in  wheat  [1881]  produce  an  average  of 
twenty-five  bushels  per  acre.  Improved  cultivation  would  increase 
this  average,  as  is  shown  by  many  farms  whose  average  rarely  falls 
below  thirty  bushels,  and  often  reaches  forty  bushels,  per  acre.  The 
man  of  figures  can  readily  see  that  the  production  of  one  hundred 
million  bushels  of  wheat  per  annum  need  not  be  postponed  to  a 


HAY-TEDDER. 


very  distant  future  in  Montana,  if  navigable  waters  reaching  from 
her  centre  to  the  sea  and  the  railways  afford  proper  avenues  to 
market. 

"  Ploughing  for  spring  wheat  commences  in  February,  and  the 
wheat  is  often  sown  during  the  same  month.  Montana  wheat,  by  a 
recent  comparative  analysis  at  St.  Louis,  takes  precedence  of  Minne- 
sota spring  or  western  winter  grades.  Oats  are  frequently  raised 
weighing  forty-four  pounds  to  the  measured  bushel.  Wheat  can  be 
raised  at  fifty  cents  per  bushel,  or  $12.50  per  acre,  taking  the  low 
average  of  twenty-five  bushels,  and  at  ordinary  prices  will  net  at 


668 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST, 


about  $14  per  acre.  Oats  can  be  raised  at  an  expense  of  $11  per 
acre,  and  yield  a  larger  profit  than  wheat.  Corn  is  not  produced  on 
a  very  large  scale  on  account  of  cool  nights  in  moist  locations.  It 
can  be  raised  at  a  cost  of  $7.50,  and  will  return  about  the  same  profit 
as  wheat.  Potatoes  can  be  raised  at  a  cost  of  $25  per  acre,  and  will 
return  a  profit  of  from  $75  to  $90  per  acre.  .  .  .  One  man  can  at- 
tend to  sixty  acres  of  wheat,  which  will  yield,  in  the  best  season, 
three  thousand  bushels,  equal  to  twelve  hundred  bags  of  flour  of  one 
hundred  pounds  each,  which  may  ordinarily  be  calculated  to  sell  for 
three  dollars  per  bag,  yielding  an  aggregate  of  $3,600.  The  cost  of 
seeds,  sowing,  irrigation,  harvesting,  threshing,  and  flouring  will  not 
exceed  $14  per  acre.  The  producer  thus  realizes  a  net  income  of 
^2,760,  or  about  $46  per  acre. 

"  Exceptional  yields  of  grain  and  vegetables  are  chronicled  which, 
to  the  farmer  on  artificially  fertilized  soils  in  the  East,  would  seem 
simply  impossible.  At  various  Territorial  fairs,  held  at  Helena, 
samples  of  wheat  yielding  sixty  to  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  of 
barley  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  and  of 
potatoes  five  hundred  to  six  hundred  and  thirteen  bushels  per  acre, 
have  been  exhibited,  with  sworn  statements  of  parties  who  measured 
the  ground  and  crops.  The  average  yield  of  wheat  is  placed  by  resi- 
dents at  thirty  bushels  per  acre,  twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  great 
wheat  State  of  Minnesota,  and  nearly  three  times  as  large  as  that  of 
Ohio." 

.  Mr.  Strahorn  continues :  "  Following  are  the  names  of  several 
prominent  farmers  of  different  valleys,  with  size  of  fields,  amount  of 
grain  threshed,  the  average  yield  per  acre  for  one  season,  and  the 
selling  price  of  the  crop  :  — 


NAME. 

LOCATION. 

FIELD    IN 
ACRES. 

CROP  AND  YIELD 
IN  BUSHELS. 

AVERAGE 
PER    ACRE. 
BUSHELS. 

VALUE   OF 
CROP. 

A.  G.  England    .  . 

Missoula  Valley 

r6o 

Wheat,    7,000 

43# 

#8,400 

A.  G.  England    .  . 

Missoula  Valley 

40 

Oats,        2,OOO 

5° 

I,2OO 

Robert  Vaughn  .  . 

Sun  River  Valley 

4 

Oats,          410 

I02}£ 

246 

M.  Stone    

Buoy  Valley 

IOO 

Wheat,    6,000 

60 

7,2OO 

Brockway's  Ranch 

Yellowstone  Valley 

8 

Oats,          600 

75 

360 

Brigham  Reed    .  . 

Gallatin  Valley 

6 

Oats,           620 

i°3^ 

362 

Marion  Leverich   . 

Gallatin  Valley 

23 

Wheat,    1,150 

5° 

1,380 

William  Reed  .  .  . 

Prickly  Pear  Valley 

5° 

Oats,        3,500 

70 

2,100 

Charles  Rowe  .  .  . 

Missouri  Valley 

232/3 

Wheat,  ) 
Oats,      1     I'200 

45 

'.250 

Con  Kohrs    .... 

Deer  Lodge  Valley 

II 

Oats,        1,200 

IOO 

72O 

John  Rowe    .... 

Gallatin  Valley 

85 

Oats,       4,982 

57 

2,989 

Robert  Barnett  .  . 

Reese  Creek  Valley 

48 

Wheat,    2,200 

454 

2,640 

S.  Hall    

Ruby  Valley 

4.OO 

Wheat,  10,000 

co 

I  I,OOO 

•|M»W 

j 

MARVELS   OF  AGRICULTURE. 


669 


Potatoes  weighing  from  two  to  four  pounds  are  frequently  raised 
in  Montana ;  turnips  weighing  thirty  pounds  each ;  and  rutabagas 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  pounds. 

Mr.  Strahorn  gives  the  quantity  of  vegetables  raised  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Fort  Ellis,  Gallatin  Countv,  in  one  season,  as  follows  :  — 


COMPANY  AND 
REGIMENT. 

NO.  OF 
ACRES. 

POTATOES. 

ONIONS. 

TURNIPS. 

CARROTS. 

BEETS. 

PARSNIPS. 

CABBAGE. 

Bu. 

Bu. 

Bu. 

Bu. 

Bu. 

Bu. 

Head. 

F,  2d  Cavalry  .  .  . 

rA 

1,100 

90 

500 

60 

50 

10 

3,610 

G,  " 

5 

55° 

60 

60 

35 

15 

2O 

2,500 

H,  " 

6 

1,200 

I30 

35 

40 

40 

25 

3.300 

L,  " 

5 

7OO 

5° 

J50 

25 

2,300 

G,  jth  Infantry  .  . 

3 

315 

6 

40 

12 

•• 

20 

800 

Total     

26^ 

3,86c 

3^6 

78c 

172 

IOC 

7t 

12  500 

AUTOMATIC   STACKER  AND  GATHERER. 

"General  Brisbin  states  that  the  value  of  the  several  articles,  if 
they  had  to  be  bought  in  Montana,  would  be  about  as  follows  : 
Potatoes,  $3,865  ;  onions,  $2,352;  turnips,  $85  ;  carrots,  $206.40;  beets, 
$315  ;  parsnips,  $225  ;  salsify,  $9.40;  cabbage,  $125  ;  total,  $7,182.80, 
from  a  twenty-six  acre  field.  Rutabagas  raised  weighed  as  high  as 
seventeen  and  one-half  pounds  each,  without  the  tops.  One  potato 
weighed  four  pounds,  and  another  three  pounds  four  ounces." 

In  prosecuting  agriculture  on  so  large  a  scale  ac  men  do  in  the 
New  West,  human  ingenuity  has  been  taxed  to  the  utmost  to  invent 
machinery  equal  to  the  occasion.  The  above  illustration  of  the 


6/o 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


"  Drain  Improved  Automatic  Hay  Stacker  and  Gatherer  "  is  one  of 
the  latest  and  best  inventions.  It  not  only  lightens  the  labors  of  the 
farmer,  and  removes  drudgery,  but  it  greatly  facilitates  hay-harvesting 
on  bonanza  farms. 

Those  stockmen  who  are  providing  winter  feed  for  their  flocks  and 
herds  find  this  machine  to  be  a  real  God-send  to  them.  Without  it 
they  could  not  perform  the  task  of  putting  up  sufficient  hay  to  feed 
the  multitude  of  cattle  on  their  ranges.  But  with  it,  they  can  now, 
at  small  expense,  stack  sufficient  hay  to  assure  good  feeding  for  their 
immense  herds  in  the  severest  winters.  One  man' and  three  boys 
and  five  horses  will  put  up  as  much  hay,  with  this  machine,  as  ten 
men  and  six  horses  could  by  the  old  method,  and  do  the  work  better. 


PIONEER  HOME  IN  DAKOTA. 


One  stacker  and  two  gatherers  will  stack  from  twenty  to  thirty 
acres  per  day ;  saving  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the 
expense  by  the  old  way.  The  hay,  too,  is  worth  from  fifty  cents  to 
one  dollar  per  ton  more  that  is  handled  in  this  way. 

The  stacker  puts  up  the  hay  in  a  much  better  manner  than  it  can 
possibly  be  done  by  hand  ;  the  hay  being  thrown  in  the  centre  of  the 
stack  and  not  over  the  sides,  as  is  done  by  hand,  so  that  when  the 
stack  settles,  it  leaves  the  centre  the  highest.  The  hay  is  thrown  on 
the  stack  straight,  just  as  it  comes  from  the  mower,  so  that  it  sheds 
rain  much  better  than  when  stacked  by  the  old  method.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  price  of  a  stacker  and  two  gatherers  is  saved  in  put- 
ting up  every  seventy  tons  of  hay  with  this  machinery.  And  many 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  6/1 

times  its  price  is  often  saved  in  putting  up  hay  from  storms.  It  will 
stack  hay  in  wind  when  it  cannot  be  stacked  with  a  fork.  It  is  the 
only  stacker  that  will  handle  hay  in  windy  weather,  on  account  of  its 
peculiar  construction.  It  is  the  only  stacker  that  will  not  scatter  the 
hay  for  the  same  reason.  The  pitcher-teeth  are  so  made  that  they  hold 
the  hay  from  blowing  away,  and  it  is  not  released  until  the  forward 
teeth  pass  over  on  the  brace  on  the  top  of  the  stacker,  when  the  hay 
is  all  released  together  and  can  fall  on  no  place  save  on  the  stick. 

This  is  the  only  stacker  that  is  arranged  with  adjustable  pitcher- 
teeth,  which  is  very  desirable  in  topping  off,  and  will  enable  a  party 
to  make  a  stack  twenty-five  feet  high  if  desirable  by  pitching  from 
the  top  of  the  stacker.  Ordinarily  it  makes  a  stack  about  seventeen 
feet  high  without  going  to  this  trouble.  It  is  the  only  mounted 
stacker  in  the  market,  and  is  operated  and  moved  from  place  to  place 
on  an  ordinary  farm  wagon. 

Life  in  all  the  great  agricultural  regions  of  the  New  West  is  much 
alike.  In  the  beginning  there  were  hardships  and  self-denials  of 
which  the  present  knows  nothing.  The  contrast  between  then  and 
now  is  almost  incredible ;  and  it  is  due  to  agriculture  that  the  Terri- 
tory has  taken  such  remarkable  strides. 

In  the  first  place,  Dakota  is  twice  as  large  as  all  the  New  England 
States  combined,  more  than  three  times  the  size  of  New  York  State, 
four  times  as  large  as  Ohio,  and  nearly  twice  as  large  as  England, 
Wales,  and  Scotland  together.  Twenty-four  such  States  as  Massa- 
chusetts can  be  set  down  upon  its  vast  domain  without  crowding.  If 
it  were  as  densely  populated  as  Great  Britain,  it  would  number  over 
fifty  million  people  ;  if  as  densely  settled  as  Belgium,  it  would  have  a 
population  of  seventy-two  million.  Here  is  an  empire  in  itself.  And 
five  years  ago  even,  the  scanty  population  of  one  hundred  thirty-five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty  people  produced  twelve  million 
bushels  of  wheat  in  one  season.  The  following  year  the  crop  was 
almost  double.  Since  that  time  a  steady  stream  of  settlers  has 
poured  into  the  Territory,  and  the  wheat  fields  have  multiplied  by  the 
thousand,  until  now  the  population  are  looking  forward  to  no  distant 
period  when  tiuo  hundred  million  bushels  of  wheat  will  be  raised  in 
one  season. 

In  1885  Dakota's  exhibit  at  the  Exposition  in  New  Orleans  was 
the  largest  and  most  remarkable  of  all  the  Territorial  departments. 
The  arrangement  was  unique ;  and  the  preparation,  on  so  grand  a 
scale,  denoted  that  Dakota  farmers  were  confident  of  success. 

Mr.  S.  S.  Keeler,  living  about  six  miles  south  cf  Wessington,  on 


6/2 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


asp8 
< 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  673 

section  2-11066,   has  contracted  all  his  crops  of  this   season,  the 

figures  of  which  will  show  for  themselves  whether  or  not  it  pays  to 

farm  in  Dakota.  The  following  is  a  statement  of  his  whole  season's 
work  :  — 

Breaking  94  acres,  («   $3 $282.00 

Backsetting  same 141.00 

47  bushels  seed  wheat,  @  §1.25 58.75 

Seed  oats 53-75 

6  pounds  of  onion  seed I3-5° 

25  bushels  seed  potatoes 20.00 

Labor  of  spring's  work,  including  board,  men  and  horses 180.00 

Expense  of  harvest 154.00 

Expense  of  threshing ' 192.64 

Total $1,095,64 

Products. 

goo  bushels  wheat,  @  $i $900.00 

3,000  bushels  oats,  @  30  cents 900.00 

400  bushels  onions,  (a>  75  cents    .     .     : 300.00 

400  bushels  potatoes,  (^40 _ 160.00 

Total $2,260.00 

Total  expense 1,095.64 

Balance $1,164.34 

Mr.  Nichols  had  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  acres  in  crops  as  follows  : 
wheat,  forty  ;  oats,  one  hundred  and  ten  ;  barley,  six.  The  expenses 
include  his  own  time  and  that  of  his  sons,  so  that  the  result  is  an 

absolute  net.  This  statement  does  not  include  wear  and  tear  of 
machinery,  neither  does  it  include  breaking,  haying,  dairy  and  garden 
produce,  or  increase  of  stock  :  — 

Expenditures. 

29^  days,  seeding,  hand  and  team,  («;  $4 $117.00 

50  bushels  seed  wheat,  (a   $i 50.00 

15  bushels  seed  barley,  (J   50  centos 7.50 

235  bushels  seed  oats,  @  45  cents IO5-75 

1 6  days,  hand  and  team,  harvesting,  (u    $5 80.00 

26^  days,  shocking,  @  $2 53-°° 

1 6*4  days,  hand  and  team,  stacking,  (<t   $5 82.50 

i6)4  days,  band,  stacking,  @  $2 33-°° 

70  days'  work,  threshing,  Q,  $2 140.00 

8  days,  team,  threshing,  (a   $2 16.00 

Threshing  217  bushels  barley,  (a  4  cents 8.68 

Threshing  Soo  bushels  wheat,  (a;  5  cents 40.00 

Threshing  5,000  bushels  oats,  @  3  cents 150.00 

70  days'  backsetting,  (5  $4 280.00 

260  pounds  twine,  («   20  cents 52-oo 

Expense  of  crop $1,214.43 


6/4  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 

Receipts. 

840  bushels  wheat  by  weight,  ©  44  cents $369.60 

225  bushels  barley  by  weight,  @  50  cents 112.50 

6,000  bushels  oats  by  weight,  @  20  cents i,2co.oo 

Crop  brought $1,682.10 

Total  expense 1,214.43 

Profit $467.67 

Who  has  not  heard  of  the  great  "  Dalrymple  Farm  "  of  Dakota  ? 
It  contains  seventy-five  thousand  acres,  thirty  thousand  of  which 
were  in  wheat  last  year.  The  original  cost  of  the  land  was  from 
forty  cents  to  five  dollars  an  acre.  The  farm  has  four  great  divisions, 
all  of  them  under  the  supervision  of  Oliver  Dalrymple.  The  four 
great  divisions  of  the  farm  are  subdivided  into  sections  of  five  thou- 
sand acres  with  a  superintendent  for  each.  Then  sections  of  five 
thousand  acres  are  halved,  giving  subdivisions  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  acres. 

Each  division  has  buildings  adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  great  farm. 
There  is  a  house  for  the  superintendent,  a  stable,  blacksmith's  shop, 
granary,  machine-house,  and  an  ample  boarding-house  for  employees. 
The  division  foreman  and  gang  foreman  are  mounted,  and  each  one 
superintends  twenty  teams. 

There  are  twenty  steam-threshers  on  the  farm  and  over  one  hun- 
dred self-binding  reapers.  The  horses  and  mules  required  amount  to 
several  hundred ;  and  there  are  so  many  men  that  they  can  be  profit- 
ably managed  only  by  military  rules.  Hence,  army  rules  are  here 
applied  to  agriculture ;  and  the  most  complete  order  and  systematic 
labor  prevails  under  General  Dalrymple.  Each  season  is  a  campaign 
well-planned  and  fought  to  conquer  the  earth.  Mr.  Henry  Van  Dyke, 
Jr.,  speaks  as  follows,  in  Harper s  Magazine,  of  his  ride  over  the 
farm  :  — 

"  A  little  way  off  we  saw  a  long  line  of  teams  pushing  slowly 
across  the  boundless  plain.  They  were  ploughing.  It  wa°  a.  very 
different  sight  from  that  ploughing  which  we  have  seen  in  the  steep 
fields  of  New  England,  where  Johnny  steers  the  old  horse  carefully 
along  the  hillsides,  and  the  old  man,  guides  the  plough  as  best  he 
can  through  the  stony  ground  ;  different,  also,  from  that  ploughing 
which  Rosa  Bonheur  has  painted  so  wonderfully  in  her  picture  at  the 
Luxembourg,  in  which  the  French  peasant  drives  his  four-in-hand  of 
mighty  oxen,  butting  their  way  through  the  misty  morning  air. 
Here  on  this  Western  farm  there  were  twelve  sulky  ploughs,  each 
drawn  by  four  mules,  moving  steadily  along  a  two-mile  furrow.  The 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  6?$ 

shining  blades  cut  smoothly  into  the  sod,  and  left  a  rich  black  wake 
of  virgin  earth  behind  them.  As  we  looked  out  over  the  great  plain, 
and  slowly  took  in  the  extent,  the  fertility,  the  ease  of  cultivation,  we 
echoed  the  local  brag :  '  This  is  a  big  country,  and  don't  you  forget 
it!' 

"  '  Yes,'  said  Gad,  '  that  is  the  trouble  :  it's  too  big.  I  can't  get  it 
on  canvas.  A  man  might  as  well  try  to  paint  a  dead  calm  in  mid- 
ocean.' 

"  We  spent  an  evening  in  the  comfortable  home  of  one  of  the 
superintendents,  and  heard  him  explain  the  system  of  book-keeping. 
Every  man  is  engaged  by  contract,  for  a  certain  time,  to  do  certain 
work,  for  certain  wages.  He  receives  his  money  on  presenting  to 
the  cashier  a  time  check  certifying  the  amount  and  nature  of  his 
labor.  The  average  price  paid  to  hands  is  eighteen  dollars  a  month 
and  board.  In  harvest  they  get  two  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  a 
day.  A  record  is  kept  by  the  foreman  of  the  amount  of  wheat  turned 
out  by  each  thresher,  by  the  driver  of  each  wagon  of  the  amount  of 
wheat  loaded  by  him,  and  by  the  receiver  at  the  elevator  of  the 
amount  of  wheat  brought  in  by  each  team.  All  the  farm  machinery 
and  the  provisions  are  bought  at  first  hands  for  wholesale  prices. 
Mules  and  horses  are  bought  in  St.  Louis.  Wheat  is  not  stacked  or 
stored,  but  shipped  to  market  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Everything  is 
regulated  by  an  exact  system,  and  this  is  what  makes  the  farms  a 
success. 

"  Brains  and  energy  in  the  man  who  controls  them  and  in  those 
whom  he  chooses  as  his  subordinate  officers  —  this  is  the  secret  of 
the  enormous  profits  which  have  been  made  on  the  Dalrymple  farms. 
The  cost  of  raising  the  first  crop  is  about  eleven  dollars  an  acre ; 
each  subsequent  crop  costs  eight  dollars.  The  average  yield  for  this 
year  was  about  nineteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  could  be  sold  at 
Fargo  on  Oct.  I  for  eighty  cents  a  bushel.  A  brief  calculation 
will  give  you  four  dollars  and  twenty  cents  per  acre  profit  on  the  new 
land,  and  seven  dollars  and  twenty  cents  for  all  the  rest ;  or,  say, 
one  hundred  thirty  thousand  dollars  gain  on  one  crop.  These  figures 
I  believe  to  be  too  small,  rather  than  too  large." 

The  Moorhead  News  said,  last  season:  "Just  east  and  south  of 
the  city  may  be  seen  a  continuous  field  of  wheat  containing  sixteen 
thousand  acres,  which  promises  to  yield  not  less  than  twenty  bushels 
per  acre.  Three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  bushels  of  No.  I  hard 
from  a  single  field  is  not  bad." 

J.  W.  Barnum,  Esq.,  a  prominent  farmer  in  Sanborn,  Dak.,  spent 


676  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

the  winter  of  1885  in  his  old  home  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  where  he 
defended  his  adopted  Territory  by  the  following  amusing  and  instruc- 
tive letter  to  the  Eagle  :  — 

"  You  will  remember  the  writer  as  an  old  resident  of  the  Twenty- 
third  Ward  during  the  winter.  In  the  summer  he  is  a  North-Dakota 
farmer.  Last  February  you  gave  an  extended  report  of  his  lecture 
at  our  Academy  of  Music,  on  bonanza  farming  in  Dakota ;  stock- 
raising  in  Montana,  Oregon,  and  Washington  Territory ;  the  attrac- 
tions to  tourists  in  the  Bad  Lands,  National  Yellowstone  Park, 
Columbia  River,  and  Puget  Sound,  —  in  aid  of  a  '  little  Congrega- 
tional church  on  the  hill '  in  Dakota,  named  after  our  Brooklyn 
Central,  Rev.  Dr.  Behrends.  Before  we  left  for  Dakota,  in  July, 
we  subscribed  for  the  Daily  Eagle,  to  be  sent  to  Sanborn,  Barnes 
County,  Dak.  For  three  months  you  have  been  '  touching  us  on  the 
quick '  by  mailing  your  paper,  printed  label,  to  Sanborn,  '  Barren ' 
County,  instead  of  Barnes.  We  said  to  ourself  quietly,  '  We  will  get 
•even  with  the  Eagle,  on  our  return  home  this  fall,  by  bringing 
samples  from  this  "  Barren  County."  !  We  hand  you  herewith  sam- 
ples of  our  No.  i  hard  wheat,  and  your  common  Long  Island  Swedish 
yellow  turnip,  which  grows  here,  in  your  favored  garden  patch  for 
Brooklyn  and  New  York,  about  the  size  of  your  double  fist.  This 
sample,  as  large  as  we  could  well  bring  in  our  trunk,  weighs  twelve 
pounds  ;  there  were  some  which  weighed  thirty-nine  pounds.  They 
are  solid,  crisp,  and  sweet.  Beets  twenty-three  pounds.  Cabbages 
twenty-five  pounds.  How  is  that  for  '  Barren '  County  ?  Our  wheat, 
your  millers  will  tell  you,  is  superior  to  any  grown  south  of  that 
latitude  ;  indeed,  we  claim  a  practical  monopoly  in  raising  this  variety 
of  'hard'  wheat,  as  it  cannot  be  raised  in  perfection  south  of  that 
cold  latitude  ;  when  taken  south  it  deteriorates.  It  is  used  largely 
in  mixing  with  your  soft  wheat  to  grade  up  your  flour.  Not  only 
wheat  and  all  the  cereals,  but  vegetables  and  all  root  crops,  '  reach 
perfection  there,  near  the  northernmost  limit  of  their  production.' 
This  is  a  surprise  to  nearly  all  Eastern  and  Southern  people.  The 
peculiarity  of  our  '  hard '  spring  wheat  (rightly  named,  for  you  should 
get  your  teeth  insured  before  you  bite  it)  is  its  being  almost  solid 
gluten ;  when  cut  into  it  looks  like  a  piece  of  solid  glue ;  the  soft 
wheats,  when  cut,  on  the  inside  are  floury  or  starchy ;  the  glutinous 
properties  are  what  the  millers  want  to  make  the  best,  strong  bread- 
making  flour.  In  the  recent  long  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  reference  is  made  to 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  specimens  of  wheat  analyzed,  as  well  as 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  6// 

the  flour  made  from  them,  and  the  bread  baked  from  the  flour.  The 
chemist's  comment  on  this  analysis  is  as  follows  :  'The  Eastern  flour 
is  poorer  in  nitrogen  and  gluten  than  any  of  the  others.  In  fact,  the 
flours  follow  closely  the  composition  of  the  wheat,  which  has  been 
examined  from  the  same  parts  of  the  country.  Dakota  makes  a  flour 
richer  than  any  other  in  gluten,  in  the  same  way  that  it  produces  a 
wheat  of  that  description.  The  average  of  these  Northwestern  spring 
wheat  flours  is  high,  and,  in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  the  country, 
they  are  the  richest  which  have  been  analyzed.' 

"When  you  go  to  the  World's  Fair  in  New  Orteans,  Alexander 
McKenzie,  the  commissioner  for  Dakota,  will  show  you  a  pumpkin 
measuring  eight  feet  long,  six  feet  in  circumference,  and  weighing 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  pounds  ;  and  a  squash  weighing  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  ;  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes,  —  three  weighed 
thirty-one  pounds  ;  one  hundred  and  one  pounds  of  honey  taken  from 
one  stand  of  bees,  —  still  '  it  is  so  cold  the  bee  cannot  live  there.' 
This  fair  will  teach  you  poor  Easterners,  who  express  so  much  sym- 
pathy for  us  ('forty  degrees  below  zero'),  that  we  can  raise  some- 
thing besides  blizzards  and  cyclones  in  North  Dakota.  Those  who 
take  an  interest  in  agricultural  development  may  be  sure  the  Dakota 
exhibit  alone  will  well  repay  for  the  trip  to  New  Orleans.  We  saw 
the  Burleigh  County  exhibit  at  Bismarck,  the  capital  of  the  Territory, 
before  the  long  train  started  on  its  triumphal  march  to  the  Gulf. 
AVe  predict  they  will  repeat  their  triumph  at  Minneapolis,  over  the 
Northwest  in  1882  and  1883,  carrying  off  the  'silk  banner  for  the 
best  county  exhibit.'  You  will  have  noted  Governor  Pierce's  latest 
estimate  puts  the  population  now  at  nearly  five  hundred  thousand. 
If  you  were  not  so  strongly  Democratic,  we  would  whisper  in  your 
ear,  will  it  pay  you  Democrats,  in  the  long  run,  to  keep  us  out  of 
statehood  because  we  are  so  largely  Republican.  Dakota  must  be 
prominently  in  the  eye  of  the  people,  seeking  to  better  their  condi- 
tion, as  witness  how  she  leads  all  the  States  and  Territories  in  the 
amount  of  Government  land  sold  —  six  million  acres  in  each  of  the 
last  two  years,  enough  to  make  three  States  of  the  size  of  Massachu- 
setts. No  section  of  our  country  is  so  rapidly  developing  in  popula- 
tion, churches,  and  schools.  There  are  two  thousand  school-houses  ; 
thirty  million  bushels  is  her  wheat  product  this  year.  Dakota  has 
demonstrated  within  the  last  two  years  that  its  grasses  are  fully  as 
nutritious  and  much  more  abundant  than  those  of  Montana,  and 
stock  and  sheep  raising  in  the  near  future  will  equal  in  value  its 
wheat  and  other  cereals.  Ninety-two  thousand  head  of  young  cattle 


6; 8  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

have  been  brought  in,  and  eighty  thousand  head  of  fat  beef  cattle 
taken  out,  on  one  line  of  railroad  during  the  last  year.  One  writer 
says  :  — 

"  'It  is  a  misfortune  for  Dakota  that  her  commissioner  cannot 
transport  to  New  Orleans  a  quarter-section  of  the  best  land,  to  show 
the  soil ;  and  also  take  down  to  that  Southern  clime  some  real  Dakota 
atmosphere,  and  let  them  see  what  a  genuine  Dakota  day  is.  The 
bracing  air  here  is  one  of  the  subjects  which  call  for  enthusiasm. 
Mr.  McKenzie  says  that  the  Territory  has  been  slandered  regarding 
its  cold  weather,  for  he  has  lived  here  all  his  life,  and  never  saw  a 
day  so  cold  that  he  could  not  be  out  most  of  the  time.' ' 

Idaho  was  comparatively  unknown  until  recently.  The  comple- 
tion of  the  Oregon  Short  Line  and  Utah  &  Northern  Divisions  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railway  across  the  Territory  opened  it  to  the  world. 
Its  name  signifies  "  Gem  of  the  Mountain,"  which  appears,  at  first, 
like  a  misnomer  to  the  traveller.  But  from  twelve  to  fifteen  million 
of  its  fifty '-five  million  acres  are  rich  and  promising;  and,  under  the 
magic  power  of  irrigation,  will  prove  second  to  no  part  of  the  New 
West  in  productiveness.  Already  a  tide  of  immigration  is  flowing 
into  it  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe ;  and  wealthy  syndicates  are 
bringing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  .acres  under  the  transforming 
power  of  irrigation.  The  record  of  one  of  these  timely  and  useful 
organizations  is  before  us,  -=- "  The  Idaho  Land  and  Water  Com- 
pany," which  has  opened  three  hundred  thousand  acres  of  the  richest 
land  in  the  beautiful  Snake  River  Valley,  by  irrigating  canals  north 
of  Ogden,  U.T.  To  those  readers  who  are  shivering  at  the  thought 
of  dwelling  so  far  north,  let  me  say  that  the  climate  of  Idaho  resem- 
bles that  of  California,  where  all  the  cereals  and  fruits  grow  thrifty. 
In  the  Snake  River  Valley  "  The  International  Immigrant  Union  " 
is  locating  a  colony  under  the  most  favorable  auspices.  The  com- 
pany locate  settlers  on  eighty,  one  hundred  and  sixty,  three  hundred 
and  twenty  or  six  hundred  forty  acre  farms,  the  settler  obtaining 
the  same  from  the  Government  at  $1.25  per  acre  under  the  "Desert 
Land  Act,"  paying  for  the  same  twenty-five  cents  per  acre  upon 
filing  his  or  her  application,  and  the  balance,  $i  per  acre,  at  the 
end  of  three  years,  or  before,  if  water  is  brought  upon  the  land  in 
sufficient  quantity  to  irrigate  the  same.  The  company  controls  the 
waters  of  the  Snake  River  Water  Company,  having  a  carrying  capacity 
of  one  hundred  thousand  inches  of  water,  which  can  be  increased  as 
the  demand  increases.  In  order  to  enable  the  settler  to  file  the 
necessary  affidavit  to  procure  his  patent  to  the  land,  the  company 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  679 

sells  to  each  settler  one  or  more  shares  in  the  Canal  Company  at  $10 
a  share,  thereby  making  him  interested  in  the  irrigation  scheme,  and 
giving  him  a  contract  for  all  the  water  required  to  irrigate  his  land 
at  $i  per  acre  per  annum.  The  company  also  makes  special  arrange- 
ments to  convey  settlers  from  New  York,  Chicago,  and  Omaha  to 
Eagle  Rock,  the  headquarters  in  Idaho,  — four  days  from  New  York-, 
three  days  from  Chicago,  and  two  days  from  Omaha. 

It  is  of  great  advantage  to  pioneers  to  find  such  arrangement  for 
their  reception  in  Idaho  or  any  other  part  of  the  New  West.  Set- 
tling upon  land  already  under  irrigation  enables  the  farmer  to  com- 
mence work  at  once  without  experiment  or  unnecessary  delay. 

The  following  paragraph  from  the  letter  of  a  tourist  will  enlighten 
the  reader  still  further  upon  the  climate  of  that  northern  latitude :  — 

"  I  was  surprised  to  find  on  my  trip  on  the  iQth  of  December 
from  Eagle  Rock  through  the  Snake  River  Valley  not  a  particle  of 
snow;  but  found  farmers  busy  at  work,  some  ploughing,  and  others 
building  and  preparing  for  spring  crops.  The  weather  was  very 
similar  to  that  of  Northern  California,  and  I  feel  sure  that  anything 
that  can  be  grown  in  California,  except  semi-tropical  fruits,  can  be 
grown  in  Eastern  Idaho." 

The  diagram  on  next  page,  showing  the  location  of  the  Snake  River 
Water  Company's  canals  and  lands  of  the  International  Immigrant 
Union  capable  of  irrigation,  is  furnished  that  the  reader  may  see  how 
Eastern  capital  and  enterprise  open  the  most  distant  agricultural 
lands  of  our  national  domain  to  settlement. 

From  Mr.  Straham's  official  report  we  add  more  facts  :  — 

"  The  fourth  year's  growth  of  apples  in  Boise  Valley  has  yielded 
two  hundred  pounds  ;  of  cherries,  seventy-five  pounds ;  of  peaches, 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  pounds  ;  of  pears,  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds  ;  of  plums,  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  while  small  fruits, 
such  as  strawberries,  currants,  gooseberries,  blackberries,  and  rasp- 
berries, are  very  profilic.  The  growth  of  wood  made  by  fruit-trees, 
and  the  quantity  of  fruit  often  found  loading  the  branches,  is  almost 
incredible.  John  Lamb,  in  Boise  City,  has  black  locust-trees  on 
which  I  was  shown  limbs  which  had  grown  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  in  one  season  ;  and  plum,  peach,  and  apple  trees,  two  years  from 
the  graft,  full  of  fruit.  In  the  yard  of  Governor  Neil,  at  Boise,  I 
counted  one  hundred  and  forty  nearly  ripe  greengage  plums  on  a 
branch  seventeen  inches  long,  the  plums  averaging  one  and  one-half 
inches  in  diameter. 

"There   is  a  grand  future   in   store   for  the   Idaho  fruit-grower. 


68o 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


Montana  to  the  north,  Wyoming  on  the  east,  Nevada  to  the  south,, 
produce  practically  no  fruit.  With  her  railroads  soon  reaching  the 
remotest  corners  of  these  Territories,  and  with  a  vast  consumption 
at  home,  Idaho  is  assured  the  best  fruit  markets  in  the  land.  Fruit 
can  be  produced  in  all  her  lower  valleys,  and  short-sighted  is  the 
settler  who  does  not  take  advantage  of  the  above  facts." 


IRRIGATION   IN  IDAHO. 

"The  cereals  do  almost  as  well  in.  Idaho  as  the  fruits.  Oats 
yield  fifty-five  bushels  per  acre ;  wheat,  thirty  bushels ;  rye,  twenty- 
five  bushels  ;  potatoes,  two  hundred  and  fifty  bushels.  The  truth  is, 
Idaho  is  one  of  the  best  grain-producing  regions  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  proof  of  this  statement  I  submit  the  following  official 
table  of  the  yield  per  acre  :  — 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


68 1 


WHEAT. 

RYE. 

OATS. 

BARLEY. 

POTATOES. 

CORN. 

Idaho  

T.O 

2C, 

CC 

4O 

2C.O 

7C 

12 

71 

QC. 

7O 

California  

17 

1C 

TO 

2"? 

114 

74 

Oregon        

21 

71 

27 

QC 

7.7. 

Eastern  States  .... 

'3     . 

IS 

31 

23 

69 

26 

"  In  one  case  fifty-four  pounds  of  wheat  were  produced  from  a 
single  square  rod,  being  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  forty  bushels 
to  the  acre.  The  wheat  produced  in  this  instance  has  been  called 
'  Idaho  white  wheat,'  and  is  thought  to  be  superior.  It  matures 
from  fall  to  spring  sowing ;  is  white,  beardless,  and  heavy,  and  pro- 
duces a  large  proportion  of  flour. 

"Mr.  I.  N.  Costan,  a  member  of  the  legislature  for  many  years, 
and  one  of  the  most  prominent  farmers  in  the  Boise  Valley,  made  the 
following  statements  to  me  while  I  wrote  them  down  :  — 

"  '  Last  year,  1882,  on  ten  acres  of  poorest  land,  with  imperfect  irri- 
gation, raised  forty  tons  of  red-clover  hay.  Sold  seventy-five  thou- 
sand pounds  (twelve  hundred  and  fifty  bushels)  of  onions  from  two 
acres.  Potatoes  only  gave  two  hundred  bushels  to  the  acre.  Have 
raised  one  thousand  bushels  on  two  acres.  Have  raised  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  bushels  of  barley  on  an  acre.  Wheat  from  forty  to  sixty 
bushels  ;  oats  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels  ;  carrots 
and  turnips  equally  good  with  potatoes.  Connecticut  flint-corn  will 
grow  well,  especially  on  the  higher  benches  ;  have  raised  sixty 
bushels  to  the  acre  in  the  bottoms.  Prunes,  the  Germans  say,  grow 
better  than  in  their  own  country.  Apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums, 
apricots,  cherries,  etc.,  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  in  the  most  favored 
spots  in  California.  The  elm,  soft  maple,  black-walnut,  locust,  etc., 
make  our  best  shade  trees.' 

"Immediately  south  of  Boise  City,  Mr.  Thomas  Davis  has  an 
orchard  of  some  ten  thousand  apple-trees,  which  have  produced  this 
season  an  immense  quantity  of  the  choicest  fruit  ever  grown  in  any 
country  in  the  world.  The  orchard  is  about  twenty  years  old,  and  in 
excellent  condition,  except  that  the  superabundance  of  the  yield  this 
year  broke  down  the  limbs  of  some  of  the  younger  trees.  Since  the 
apples  began  to  ripen,  men  with  carts  have  been  constantly  engaged 
in  gathering  the  fruit  carefully  and  assorting  it  for  the  market. 

"Preparatory  to  shipment  the  apples  are  packed  in  fifty-pound 


682  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

boxes.  They  readily  find  a  market  in  all  parts  of  Idaho  and  adjoin- 
ing States  and  Territories.  No  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds  of  this  fruit  have  already  been  sent  by  rail  to  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  Northwest,  and  Mr.  Davis  still  has  as  many  stored 
away  in  a  three-story  building,  specially  prepared  for  the  purpose, 
on  his  premises,  and  shipments  continue  to  be  made  almost  daily. 
Apples  boxed  and  shipped  net  about  $1.25  per  hundred  pounds,  so 
we  may  safely  calculate  that  the  fruit  already  disposed  of  and  that 
yet  in  store  will  bring  Mr.  Davis  a  clear  $6,250.  Besides  this,  he 
has  one  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of  vinegar,  twenty  thousand  pounds 
of  choice  dried  apples,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  pears  and  cider. 
Altogether  this  year  the  net  profit  derived  from  this  sample  orchard 
will  reach  a  handsome  $10,000.  This  is  only  a  sample  of  what  Idaho 
is  doing  in  the  way  of  producing  fruit  which  is  everywhere  pro- 
nounced of  superior  quality  and  delicious  flavor." 

The  most  marvellous  things  of  agriculture,  however,  belong  to 
California,  whose  "  Golden  Gate  "  admits  us  to  even  better  treasures 
than  vaults  of  gold  and  silver.  Between  the  two  mountain  ranges  — 
Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Coast  Range — lies  a  rich,  fertile  valley,  which 
was  once  an  inland  sea.  It  is  forty  miles  wide,  and  contains  five 
million  acres  of  splendid  land.  This  Sacramento  Valley  has  an  aver- 
age annual  rainfall  from  eighteen  to  twenty  inches,  and  therefore 
yields  fair  crops,  even  without  irrigation. 

The  San  Joaquin  Valley,  which  begins  at  Stockton,  is  not  less 
fertile  than  the  Sacramento,  and  contains  seven  million  acres.  Add 
to  this  the  foot-hills  on  each  side,  and  adjacent  mountain  valleys,  and 
here  are  nearly  twenty  million  acres  of  the  best  land  in  the  world  for 
cultivation. 

While  the  average  rainfall  is  sufficient  to  assure  good  crops,  irri- 
gation has  been  extensively  introduced  so  as  very  largely  to  increase 
production.  California  is  properly  called  "Cornucopia  of  the  world." 
Grains  and  fruits  of  every  sort  grow  luxuriantly,  even  tropical  fruits, 
and  harvest-time  is  a  season  of  wonderful  revelations.  California  is 
a  flower-garden,  too,  where  the  size  and  beauty  of  floral  specimens 
defy  description. 

The  year  in  California  is  divided  into  two  seasons,  the  wet  and 
dry.  The  wet  season  commences  about  the  middle  of  October  and 
continues  until  April  or  May.  This  is  the  season  for  seeding,  really 
from  September  to  May,  so  that  the  farmer  has  ample  time  to  put  in 
all  the  seed  he  desires  to  plant.  It  is  claimed  that  one  man,  with  a 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


683 


two-horse  team,  can  put  in  from  two  to  three  hundred  acres  during 
seeding-time. 

Haying  often  commences  at  the  close  of  the  wet  season,  and  con- 
tinues, together  with  harvesting,  until  September,  without  a  storm 
or  shower.  No  arrangement  could  possibly  be  made  so  convenient 
for  California  farmers.  They  produce  three  times  as  much  to  a  man 
as  do  the  farmers  in  any  other  State  of  the  Union,  because  of  the 
aforesaid  arrangement  of  the  seasons.  They  can  labor  the  year 
round,  if  they  wish,  a  season  for  idleness  being  unnecessary. 

Wheat,  barley,  and  oats  are  threshed  on  the  field,  put  up  in  bags, 
and  left  there  for  weeks,  without  any  danger  of  being  wet  or  of 


CALIFORNIA  FARM  HOUSE. 

sweating  in  that  dry  atmosphere.  The  farmer  may  not  possess  a 
building  for  storing  his  grain,  because  it  is  unnecessary  in  a  climate 
where  grain  can  be  left  safely  in  the  field.  Hay  is  stacked  in  the 
field,  and  left  there  until  it  is  wanted.  Potatoes  are  not  injured  by 
being  left  in  the  ground  long  after  they  are  fit  to  be  gathered. 

Fruit  trees  thrive  much  better  in  California  than  in  New  England. 
Apple-trees  begin  to  bear  at  three  years  of  age,  and  the  peach  at  two. 
The  plum  and  cherry  tree  grow  larger,  bear  much  earlier,  and  their 
fruit  is  less  perishable  than  kindred  fruits  in  the  East.  A  farmer's 
orchard  will  have  apple,  peach,  pear,  cherry,  prune,  quince,  plum, 
nectarine,  pomegranate,  fig — not  to  mention  other  fruits  —  growing 


684  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

with  a  luxuriance  such  as  is  not  known  in  New  England.  Figs  yield 
two  crops  in  a  year.  With  care,  strawberries  can  be  produced  in 
every  month  of  the  year.  The  orange,  lemon,  lime,  almond,  olive, 
English  walnut,  and  apricot  flourish  finely  in  Southern  California. 
The  best  raisins  in  the  world  come  from  this  locality. 

The  growth  of  fruit  and  other  trees  is  remarkable.  The  apricot 
often  grows  to  the  size  of  a  forest  tree.  The  eucalyptus,  a  fine  ever- 
green of  the  New  West,  has  been  known  to  make  twenty  feet  in  one 
year.  A  traveller  claims  that  he  saw  one  eight  years  old,  that  was 
seventy-five  feet  high,  and  two  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base.  In  the 
southern  part  of  the  State  farmers  build  fences  by  sticking  into  the 
ground  sticks  of  willow,  sycamore,  or  cotton-wood,  eight  feet  long.  In 
two  years  the  farmer  has  a  substantial  fence,  and  cuts  therefrom  all 
the  firewood  his  family  require. 

Mr.  Nordhoff  says :  "  Where  nature  has  done  and  does  so  much, 
man  gains  a  quick  reward  for  his  efforts.  Our  costliest  and  rarest 
greenhouse  flowers  grow  here  out  of  doors  all  winter,  almost  without 
care.  In  the  vineyards  are  planted  by  the  acre  the  grapes  which  at 
home  are  found  only  in  the  hot-houses  of  the  wealthy.  The  soil  is 
so  fertile  that  it  is  a  common  saying  in  the  great  valleys  that  the 
ground  is  better  after  it  has  yielded  two  crops  than  at  the  first 
ploughing ;  and  though,  as  a  rule,  the  farmers  in  Southern  California 
often  live  in  small  and  mean  houses  —  the  climate  which  permits  chil- 
dren to  play  out  of  doors  without  overcoats  or  shawls  for  at  least 
three  hundred  and  thirty  days  in  the  year,  and  which  makes  the 
piazza  or  the  neighboring  shade-tree  pleasanter  than  a  room,  in  win- 
ter as  well  as  summer  —  this  is  because  one  does  not  much  need  a 
house.  The  dwelling  is  a  less  important  part  of  the  farm  than  with 
us.  The  climate  even  in  the  northern  counties  does  not  oblige  you 
to  have  a  costly  or  substantial  building ;  and  while  the  farmer  may 
and  does  work  in  the  soil  in  every  month  of  the  year,  and  has  thus  an 
enormous  advantage  over  his  Eastern  friend,  on  the  other  hand  I  do 
not  exaggerate  when  I  say  that  what  a  farmer  in  Iowa,  Minnesota,  or 
Kansas  must  pay  out  in  two  years  for  fuel  to  keep  him  and  his  family 
comfortable  in  winter,  and  for  the  shelter  of  his  cattle  from  cold, 
would  pay  his  way  to  California,  and,  if  he  chose  well,  almost  buy 
him  a  farm." 

Mr.  Nordhoff  adds  some  interesting  facts.  "  Near  Marysville,  a 
farmer,  finding  that  his  orchard  of  apples,  pears,  etc.,  did  not  pay  as 
well  as  formerly,  bethought  him  of  the  castor-bean.  He  planted  sev- 
eral acres  as  an  experimental  crop,  found  that  his  soil  was  suitable 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


685 


686  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

for  it,  anu  I  saw  on  his  place  one  hundred  acres  in  castor-oil.  The 
plant,  which  is  with  us  in  the  East  a  tender,  ornamental  shrub,  was 
planted  and  hoed  or  ploughed  like  corn,  and,  when  ripe,  a  press  in  a 
shed  at  the  edge  of  the  field  made  the  oil.  In  the  East  his  adventure 
would  have  needed  a  solid  brick  building  for  his  machinery,  as  well 
as  costly  drying  and  bleaching  rooms.  Here  the  oil  was  bleached 
under  a  rainless  sky,  and  a  shed  which  could  not  have  cost  fifty  dol- 
lars, sufficiently  protected  his  engine  and  press." 

"  In  the  Napa  valley  a  farmer  thought  hops  would  pay.  He 
planted  ten  acres,  and  two  crops  gave  him  a  handsome  little  fortune. 
Some  years  ago  farmers  within  reach  of  the  San  Francisco  market 
planted  cherries  ;  and  I  know  a  man  whose  cherry  orchard,  wherein 
Chinese  pick  the  fruit  at  a  trifling  expense,  has  netted  him  for  sev- 
eral years  past  thirty  dollars  a  tree." 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  acres  in  hops,  in  several 
counties  of  California,  and  the  increase  of  1883  :  — 

Old  Yards.  New  Yards. 

Sacramento  and  Yolo 764  1,062 

Sutler 57 

Lake    . 130  195 

Mendocino 721  926 

Santa  Cruz    ... 22  92 

Napa 66  25 

Alameda 70  35 

In  other  districts  of  California  the  increase  has  been  about  the 
same. 

A  newspaper  in  Mendocino  County,  Aug.  31  of  the  same  year, 
the  picking  season,  said  :  — 

"  Rev.  S.  L.  Sanford  finished  picking  his  hops  last  Wednesday 
morning,  and  the  ten  acres  yielded  forty-six  thousand  pounds  of 
green  hops,  or  an  average  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  to 
the  acre.  T.  J.  Fine  has  been  running  a  force  of  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  pickers  in  his  old  field  of  seven  acres,  for  two  weeks,  and  thinks 
it  will  take  a  week  or  ten  days  to  finish  up  that  one  field.  The  yield 
is  simply  enormous,  and  will  not  be  less  than  two  thousand  pounds 
dried  to  the  acre.  Besides  this,  he  has  about  eighteen  acres  of  new 
hops  to  pick.  In  Redwood  Valley  everybody  is  busily  engaged,  and 
the  families  have  gone  right  into  the  fields  and  camped,  and  in  one 
field  there  are  as  many  as  one  hundred  pickers.  .  .  .  Estimating  the 
yield  of  the  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-seven  acres  of  new 
and  old  fields  at  one  thousand  pounds  to  the  acre,  Mendocino  will 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


687 


place  upwards  of  one  and  a  half  million  pounds  on  the  market  this 
season,  but  what  the  net  proceeds  will  be  to  the  producer  cannot  be 
predicted  as  yet  with  any  degree  of  assurance. 

The  exports  by  rail  and  sea  during  the  years  1883,  1884,  and  1885 
were  as  follows  :  — 


1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

From  San  Francisco  by  sea  .  .  . 
From  San  Francisco  by  rail  .  .  . 
From  the  interior  by  rail  . 

Pounds. 
160,167 
2,707,290 
I  QI4.74O 

Pounds. 
183,613 
1,721,040 
1,286  520 

Pounds. 
419,982 
2,458,100 

-1   -2QO   7  CO 

Grand  Totals  

4,782,107 

•},IQI,I7'? 

6,  1  78.432 

In  other  parts  of  the  New  West,  hop-culture  is  a  very  profitable 
industry,  especially  in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory.  The  acre- 
age of  hops  along  Puget  Sound  in  1882  was  one  thousand  acres,  pro- 
ducing one  million  six  hundred  thousand  pounds.  In  1883  the 
acreage  was  doubled  —  two  thousand  acres,  producing  two  million 
four  hundred  thousand.  The  average  price  at  which  the  hops  were 
sold  was  fifty  cents  per  pound.  The  highest  price  was  ninety  cents 
per  pound,  and  the  lowest  twenty-seven  cents.  During  the  last  two 
or  three  years  the  price  of  hops  has  fallen  considerably. 

There  is  a  hop  farm  in  Washington  Territory  containing  three 
hundred  acres. 

Ten  years  ago  California  did  little  at  raisin-making,  except  to  dry 
a  few  raisin-grapes,  and  sell  them  for  ''dried  grapes."  But  now 
raisin-making  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  profitable  industries  of 
California ;  and  these  raisins  are  classed  with  the  best  raisins  in  the 
New  York  and  Boston  markets. 

Good  land  for  raisin-culture  can  be  bought  in  Los  Angeles  and 
San  Bernardino  Counties  for  forty  and  fifty  dollars  per  acre,  though 
it  is  claimed  that  at  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre  the 
industry  is  very  profitable.  One  of  the  leading  raisin-makers  of 
the  State  claims  that  a  vineyard  of  the  raisin-grape,  irrigated  and 
under  careful  cultivation,  will  yield  enough  grapes  the  third  year  to 
pay  all  the  expense  of  running  that  year ;  and  on  the  fourth  year 
will  yield  a  crop  that  will  pay  the  whole  cost  of  land,  planting,  and 
culture  up  to  that  time,  even  where  the  land  has  cost  one  hundred 
dollars  an  acre.  He  claims  that  raisins  may  be  raised  so  as  to  pay 
one  dollar  per  vine,  or  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 


688  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

A  raisin-dealer  of  Boston  wrote  to  a  California  raisin-maker  as 
follows  :  — 

"  I  received  your  raisins  last  week,  and  must  say  they  are  far 
ahead  of  what  I  expected  to  receive.  I  have  only  seen  one  quality 
of  raisins  that  surpasses  them,  and  they  are  what  we  call  the  finest 
Dehesia,  packed  by  Campuzana  Brothers.  Allow  me  to  make  one 
suggestion,  and  that  is,  in  packing  your  raisins,  especially  the  finest 
that  you  have,  have  the  papers  made  of  more  colors  and  better 
finish  ;  by  so  doing  you  will  get  a  better  price,  and  it  will  also  give 
the  public  an  idea  that  it  is  the  finest  fruit  packed.  One  other  thing 
I  noticed,  and  that  was,  the  skins  are  apt  to  be  a  little  tough,  but 
not  one  person  in  a  thousand  would  notice  it,  and  in  fact,  but  few 
dealers.  The  color  is  all  O  K,  as  far  as  New  England  trade  is  con- 
cerned. As  to  the  size  of  the  raisins,  they  are  larger  than  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  imported  fruit  that  comes  to  this  country.  I  have 
handled  raisins  for  the  past  ten  years,  from  the  cheapest  to  the  finest 
imported,  and  know  what  I  am  talking  about.  A  salesman  here  that 
has  sold  goods  for  the  oldest  wholesale  house  in  Boston,  says  these 
raisins  are  the  finest  California  raisins  he  ever  saw.  If  you  can 
improve  on  them  in  any  way,  I  don't  see  but  you  have  a  big  thing 
before  you,  for  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  when  the  California  fruit 
will  drive  the  foreign  out  of  the  market,  and  the  best  brands  will 
always  be  in  demand,  and  of  course  bring  higher  prices." 

The  Boston  Commercial  Bulletin  says  :  — 

"  California  raisins  are  made  from  the  Malaga  grape,  and  are  large 
and  of  excellent  quality,  and  are  acknowledged  to  be  superior  to  the 
foreign.  They  are  also  fresher,  as  they  never  have  the  leathery  taste 
given  to  the  foreign  raisins  by  the  sea  voyage.  Vast  quantities  of 
land  are  being  annually,  especially  in  Southern  California,  devoted 
to  the  culture  of  grapes  for  raisins,  and  the  growers  are  constantly 
increasing  and  improving  their  facilities  for  drying  and  packing. 
They  are  also  introducing  a  number  of  Spanish  laborers,  and  will 
thus  derive  all  possible  advantages  from  skilled  labor.  The  grapes 
can  be  grown  so  cheaply  in  California,  and  the  raisin  production  is 
increasing  so  rapidly,  that,  in  a  few  years,  possibly  in  1885,  it  is  confi- 
dently expected  that  the  California  raisins  can  be  laid  down  in  this 
market  at  $1.25  to  $1.30  for  a  twenty-four-pound  box,  at  which  price 
the  foreign  raisins  cannot  compete  with  them." 

Wine-making,  however,  is  the  leading  industry  of  California,  and 
grapes  are  raised  for  this  purpose.  The  business  has  increased 
remarkably  within  a  few  years,  as  manufacturers  have  become  famil- 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


689 


690  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

iar  with  the  improved  methods  of  manufacture.  They  have  wine- 
presses now  that  will  crush  from  eight  to  ten  tons  of  grapes  in 
an  hour  ;  and  wine-casks  that  will  hold  three  thousand  gallons  are 
common,  while  there  are  some  which  hold  from  ten  to  fourteen 
thousand.  Eleven  years  ago  California  made  less  than  two  million 
gallons  of  wine.  In  three  years  from  that  time  the  quantity  was 
doubled.  Now  the  annual  yield  is  ten  million  gallons,  and  rapidly 
increasing.  Yet  the  business  is  in  its  infancy.  It  is  claimed  that  if 
ten  thousand  acres  should  be  planted  in  vineyards  annually,  it  would 
require  a  century  for  the  State  to  possess  as  many  vines  as  have  been 
destroyed  by  phylloxera  in  France  within  ten  years. 

"  Vineyards  planted  but  two  and  a  half  years  are  shown  which 
already  produce  five  tons  of  grapes  to  the  acre.  Five  years  is  the 
period  required  to  bring  the  vines  into  full  bearing.  It  is  estimated 
that  an  acre  of  vines  arrived  at  this  condition  will  have  cost  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  allowing  fifty  dollars  as  the  price  of 
the  ground.  But  it  is  then  counted  upon  for  an  annual  yield  of  ten 
tons  of  grapes,  and  these  find  a  ready  sale  at  twenty  dollars  a  ton. 
The  rate  of  growth  in  vegetation  is  one  of  the  important  things  to 
note.  Fruit  trees  are  said  to  advance  as  far  in  three  years  in  this 
earthly  paradise  as  in  seven  at  the  Eastern  seaboard." 

The  production  of  honey  in  the  New  West  has  become  enormous. 
It  is  in  very  truth  "  a  flowery  land,"  where  bees  may  revel  nearly 
every  month  of  the  year  in  fields  of  floral  wealth  unsurpassed.  The 
cut  on  the  following  page  presents  a  scene  on  a  bee  farm  in  California, 
showing  the  arrangement  of  hives,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the 
country  in  which  bees  specially  thrive. 

Some  of  the  farms,  or  ranches,  of  California  are  of  immense  pro- 
portions. Mr.  Nordhoff  gives  some  idea  of  these  large  possessions 
by  saying :  — 

"  It  is  a  favorite  story,  that  certain  men  are  able  to  drive  a  herd 
of  cattle  from  the  northern  counties  of  the  State  to  San  Diego,  at  its 
extreme  southern  limit,  and  quarter  the  animals  every  night  upon 
their  own  territory.  Haggin,  Carr,  and  Tevis,  whose  property  I  was 
privileged  to  examine  considerably  in  detail,  have  some  four  Jiundrcd 
thousand  acres.  Much  of  this  was  secured  for  a  mere  trifle  while  in 
the  condition  of  waste  land,  and  afterwards  redeemed.  A  neighbor 
who  had  acquired  a  great  estate  of  a  similar  kind,  mainly  while  hold- 
ing the  post  of  surveyor-general  of  the  United  States,  drew  forth  one 
of  the  best  bon  mots  of  President  Lincoln.  '  Let  me  congratulate 
you,'  said  Lincoln,  as  this  gpntleman  was  retiring  from  office  under 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


691 


his  administration.     'You  have  become  monarch   of   about   all  you 
have  surveyed.' 

"  The  owners  do  not  often  live  upon  their  estates,  but  leave  them 
in  the  hands  of  managers,  and  draw  the  revenues.  The  Haggin,  Carr, 
and  Tevis  property  is  divided  into  a  number  of  separate  ranches,  each 


BEE   CULTURE. 


with  its  resident  superintendent.  The  Bellevue  Ranch,  so  called,  is 
the  centre  and  focus  of  authority  for  the  whole.  Here  is  the  resi- 
dence and  office  of  the  general  manager,  and  here  are  assembled 
a  force  of  book-keepers,  engineers,  and  mechanics,  .who  keep  the 
accounts,  map,  plan,  supervise,  construct,  and  repair,  and  give  to  the 
whole  the  clock-work  regularity  of  a  great  commercial  enterprise. 


692  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

The  numerous  buildings  constitute  a  considerable  settlement.  There 
is  a  '  store '  of  general  merchandise  and  supplies.  A  dormitory  and 
a  drning-hall  have  been  erected  for  the  laboring  hands.  A  tower-like 
water-tank,  surmounted  by  a  windmill,  and  accommodating  a  milk- 
room  below,  rises  at  one  side.  There  are  shops  for  the  mechanics, 
capacious  barns,  and  long  sheds  filled  with  an  interminable  array  of 
agricultural  implements.  It  is  worth  while  to  take  a  walk  past  this 
collection  of  reapers,  threshers,  sulky  ploughs,  and  rakes,  and  study 
out  their  uses.  The  immense  '  header  and  separator '  rises  from  the 
rest  like  some  awe-inspiring  leviathan  of  the  deep.  A  whole  depart- 
ment is  devoted  to  the  'road  scrapers,'  'buck  scrapers,'  and  ploughs 
of  various  sorts  used  in  the  construction  and  dredging  out  of  the 
irrigating  ditches.  The  soil  is  fortunately  free  from  stones,  and  the 
work  is  for  the  most  part  quite  easy.  One  enormous  plough  is  seen 
which  was  designed  to  be  drawn  by  sixty  yoke  of  oxen,  and  to  cut  at 
once  a  furrow  five  feet  wide  by  four  deep.  Like  the  famous  steam- 
ship Great  Eastern,  it  has  defeated  itself  by  pure  bulk,  and  is  not 
now  in  use. 

"  More  than  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  has  been  expended  on 
the  great  estate  in  the  item  of  fencing  alone.  An  average  of  four 
hundred  laborers  is  employed,  and  in  the  harvest  season  seven 
hundred.  The  rate  of  wages  is  quoted  at  from  two  and  a  half  to 
three  dollars  per  day  to  mechanics,  and  one  dollar  per  day  to  common 
hands.  This  seems  low  as  compared  with  information  from  other 
sources,  and  that  which  appears  in  the  chronic  complaints  of  the 
scarcity  of  farm  labor  in  the  California  papers." 

Of  the  orange  culture,  Mr.  Nordhoff  says  :  "  The  seedling  orange- 
tree  bears,  at  twelve  years  from  the  planting,  an  average  of  one  thou- 
sand marketable  oranges,  and  I  know  of  a  tree  at  Riverside  which 
bore  at  thirteen  years  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  oranges, 
which  brought  the  owner  seventy-four  dollars.  The  following  year 
(1880)  it  bore  two  thousand  fifty.  The  orange  is  prone  to  overbear, 
and  this  tree  had  evidently  done  too  much,  for  in  1881  it  had  less 
than  half  this  number  of  oranges  on  it. 

"  They  plant  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  trees  per  acre ;  and  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  the  profits  of  a  bearing  orchard,  even  at  the  lowest 
prices,  are  very  great.  Eighty  trees,  bearing  one  thousand  oranges 
each,  sold  at  ten  dollars  per  thousand,  would  yield  a  gross  return  of 
eight  hundred  dollars.  Now,  one  man  can  cultivate,  irrigate,  prune, 
and  care  for  twenty  acres  of  any  of  the  citrus  fruits,  and  the  picking  and 
boxing  cost  no  more  than  about  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  thousand. 


MARVELS   OF  AGRICULTURE. 


693 


But  at  fifteen  years  old,  seedling  trees  bear  two  thousand  oranges 
each,  and  the  average  price  is  now  (1883),  and  will  for  many  years 
remain,  over  twenty  dollars  per  thousand.  One  of  the  shrewdest 
orchardists  at  Riverside  said  to  me,  'At  half  a  cent  apiece,  the 
orange  crop  would  still  remain  the  most  profitable  a  man  can  grow ' ; 
and  he  was  right.  Half  a  cent  each  would  be  five  dollars  per  thou- 
sand ;  which  for  mature  trees  would  still  give  a  gross  return  of  ten 
dollars  to  the  tree,  or  from  eight,  hundred  dollars  to  one  thousand 
dollars  per  acre,  according  to  the  number  of  trees  planted  per  acre  in 
different  localities. 


CALIFORNIA   ORANGE    GROVE. 

"  Such  returns  seem  incredible,  even  to  one  on  the  ground  ;  and  I 
needed,  to  enable  me  to  realize  the  practical  results,  some  such  state- 
ment as  was  made  to  me  by  one  of  the  most  careful  and  intelligent 
orange  cultivators  I  met,  —  the  owner  of  twenty  acres  in  a  choice 
location.  '  Last  year  my  trees  paid  the  whole  of  my  family  expenses 
for  the  year ;  that  was  my  first  crop.  This  year  I  shall  make  over 
five  thousand  dollars;  after  next  year  I  am  planning  to  take  my 
family  for  six  months  to  Europe,  and  I  expect  thereafter  to  have  four 
or  five  months  for  travel  every  year,  with  sufficient  means  from  my 
twenty  acres  to  go  where  my  wife  and  children  may  wish  to  go.' ' 

Alfalfa  is  Chilian  clover  introduced  into  California  some  twenty 


694  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

years  ago,  and  is  now  grown  profitably  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  New 
West.  In  California  from  three  to  six  crops  of  it  are  gathered  in  a 
year,  and  from  one  and  a  half  tons  to  two  and  a  half  per  acre  each 
time  it  is  mowed  —  the  grand  total  per  acre  for  the  year  being  some- 
what incredible.  In  Colorado  and  other  parts  of  the  New  West,  two 
and  three  crops  annually  are  raised,  often  two  tons  to  the  acre  at 
each  cutting. 

Alfalfa  is  a  very  nutritious  grass,  excellent  for  horses  that  are  not 
hard-worked,  for  milch  cows,  and  even  for  pigs  and  fowls.  In  nearly 
every  part  of  California  it  keeps  green  throughout  the  year.  But  it 
requires  much  water,  so  that  irrigation  is  indispensable.  Its  roots 
strike  deep,  much  deeper  than  the  clover  of  New  England,  making 
an  occasional  soaking  absolutely  necessary.  Under  proper  treatment, 
it  becomes  one  of  the  most  remarkable  agricultural  products. 

Alfalfa  appears  to  grow  as  thriftily  in  Idaho  as  in  California,  very 
much  to  the  surprise  of  farmers.  A  Mr.  Payne,  near  Boise  City, 
raised  three  hundred  and  sixty  tons  of  alfalfa  on  sixty  acres  of  land 
(six  tons  per  acre),  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  tons  of  clover  on  forty 
acres  (four  tons  per  acre). 

Our  limited  space  will  allow  no  further  discussion  of  agriculture 
in  California  except  the  addition  of  miscellaneous  facts. 

"  An  immense  land  bequest  was  recently  made  by  a  San  Francis- 
can. The  late  James  Irvine  left  to  his  only  son,  among  other  prop- 
erty, one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  acres  of  land  in  one  body  in 
Los  Angeles  County.  This  large  domain  Mr.  Irvine  bought  jointly 
with  another  man  in  1857,  paying  at  the  rate  of  thirty-seven  and  one- 
half  cents  per  acre.  In  1875  Mr.  Irvine  bought  out  his  partner  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  He  has  since  been  offered 
one  million  dollars  cash  for  the  property.  There  is  a  valley  of  twenty 
thousand  acres  in  the  tract,  worth  one  hundred  dollars  an  acre,  or 
two  million  dollars  for  the  valley.  Some  small  farms  have  been 
carved  from  this  portion  and  sold  at  this  figure.  On  the  tract  is  a 
coal  mine,  which  is  yielding  an  unfailing  supply  of  coal  of  good 
quality  for  locomotive  purposes,  and  is  under  lease  to  representatives 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  Company.  There  are  between  thirty  thou- 
sand and  forty  thousand  sheep  and  several  thousand  cattle  upon  this 
land.  The  actual  cash  value  of  the  whole  tract  is,  at  a  fair  estimate, 
about  four  million  dollars." 

"The  Los  Angeles  Herald,  speaking  of  crop  prospects  in  Southern 
California,  says  the  demand  for  the  single  article  of  cabbages  is  sim- 
ply enormous.  Carload  after  carload  of  the  popular  vegetable  is  being 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  695 

shipped  to  the  Territories  and  to  Texas,  and  bring  a  return  of  at  least 
five  hundred  dollars  an  acre  to  those  who  raise  them.  All  the  pros- 
pects for  a  large  fruit  crop  are  fine  for  the  present  summer.  About 
seventeen  million  grape-vines  will  this  year  yield  their  luscious  fruit, 
while  the  peach,  apple,  pear,  and  apricot  crop  will  be  about  double 
that  of  former  years." 

In  1886  an  olive  orchard  of  fifty  acres  yielded  fifty  thousand  bottles 
of  oil  that  were  sold  for  one  dollar  a  bottle  —  FIFTY  THOUSAND  dollars 
income  from  the  fifty  acres,  one  thousand  dollars  per  acre ! 

"  O.  Lockwood,  of  Compton,  has  an  apple  orchard  of  one  thousand 
trees,  which  has  yielded  him  one  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  fruit  this 
year.  Of  this,  two  hundred  trees  are  eight  years  old,  being  of  differ- 
ent varieties,  and  eight  hundred  trees  of  the  white  winter  pearmains, 
three  years  old.  Of  the  older  trees  Mr.  Lockwood  has  sixty  which 
have  paid  him  an  average  of  seven  dollars  each  this  year.  This 
orchard  is  set  out  in  sandy  soil,  depth  to  water  being  only  five  feet, 
and  the  trees  have  had  no  irrigation  for  years.  This  shows  conclu- 
sively that  apple  culture  in  South  California  is  a  paying  industry." 

"  Tulare  is  now  making  its  boasts  about  a  big  pumpkin-vine,  and 
if  the  story  be  true,  has  the  floor  against  all  comers  thus  far.  This 
particular  vine  attained  immense  proportions,  and  a  crop  of  eighteen 
pumpkins  was  gathered  from  it,  weighing  from  thirty-five  to  ninety 
pounds,  a  total  weight  of  one  thousand  one  hundred  pounds  being 
removed  from  the  single  vine." 

"  The  largest  raisin  vineyard  in  the  world  is  owned  and  operated 
by  G.  G.  Briggs,  of  Yolo  County,  containing  over  one  thousand  acres 
of  the  choicest  varieties  of  raisin-grapes.  The  vines  are  from  two  to 
seven  years  old,  and  when  they  come  into  full  bearing,  will  yield  the 
owner  a  small  fortune  every  year." 

"  It  is  estimated  that  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres  of 
land  in  California  are  planted  in  vineyard,  and  that  two  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-six  persons  are  engaged  in  the  grape  indus- 
try exclusively.  Of  these,  Los  Angeles  has  the  largest  number,  four 
hundred  and  fourteen  persons,  while  Sonoma  has  two  hundred  and 
eighty-eight;  Fresno,  two  hundred  and  sixty-four;  and  San  Bernardino, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-seven.  The  land,  with  improvements,  is  esti- 
mated to  be  worth  sixty  million  dollars,  and  supports  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  people." 

Compared  with  Kansas  and  other  localities,  Colorado  is  not  dis- 
tinguished for  its  agriculture.  Yet  it  is  rapidly  advancing  in  this 
line,  and  in  due  time  will  make  a  grand  report.  Even  now  the  State 


696  MARVELS  OF  THE   NEW  WEST. 

ranks  high  in  respect  to  quality  of  farm  productions  and  number  of 
bushels  of  wheat  and  potatoes  per  acre.  An  average  of  twenty 
bushels  of  wheat  and  two  hundred  of  potatoes  per  acre  is  a  good 
showing  for  the  Centennial  State,  especially  when  it  is  known  that 
thirty  bushels  of  wheat  and  five  hundred  of  potatoes  are  sometimes 
grown  upon  an  acre. 

Colorado  contains  five  million  acres  of  agricultural  lands,  located 
mostly  in  the  valleys  of  its  great  rivers.  This  is  but  a  fraction  of  its 
immense  domain  of  sixty-six  million  eight  hundred  and  eighty  thou- 
sand acres,  it  is  true ;  but  then,  this  small  fraction  of  territory  is 
about  the  size  of  Massachusetts.  It  contains  quite  a  number  of  beau- 
tiful parks  in  the  mountains,  with  deep,  rich  soil  that  rewards  irriga- 
tion and  industry  with  a  wealth  of  products.  Four  of  these  parks 
are  marvellous  creations  of  nature  in  size,  fertility,  and  beauty. 
North  Park  contains  nine  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  acres,  situated 
nine  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level ;  enough  land  to  accommodate 
six  thousand  farmers  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each.  And 
these  farmers  will  find  it  to  be  exhilarating  business  to  till  the  soil 
up  nine  thousand  feet  towards  the  sky.  Middle  Park  contains  one 
million  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  acres,  about  eighty-five 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  —  a  little  lower  down,  to  be  sure,  but 
sufficiently  high  to  insure  bracing  air  and  good  digestion.  This  park 
would  give  to  each  of  seventy-two  hundred  farmers  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres.  South  Park  contains  one  million  four  hundred  and  eight 
thousand  acres,  higher  up  even  than  North  Park,  for  it  is  ninety-five 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Here  eighty-eight  hundred  farmers 
might  find  ample  room  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each.  But 
larger  than  all  the  three  parks  named  is  the  San  Luis  Park,  that 
spreads  out  far  and  wide  from  the  base  of  the  marvellous  Mount 
Blanca,  and  contains  five  million  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
acres,  situated  seventy-five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Here  is 
enough  land  to  cut  up  into  thirty-two  thousand  farms  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  each.  The  State  of  Massachusetts  could  be  set  down 
within  this  mammoth  park,  and  leave  room  for  a  respectable  drive- 
way around  it. 

The  proprietor  of  a  farm  in  San  Luis  Park  writes  :  — 
"  Wheat  I  have  threshed  forty  bushels  per  acre  ;  an  average  crop 
will  be  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  bushels.  On  good  land  oats  will 
grow  six  to  seven  feet  high,  and  seldom  lodge  as  they  do  in  a  wet 
climate,  the  straw  growing  hard  and  strong,  enabling  them  to  bear 
up  the  fine,  large  heads  of  grain.  I  have  measured  some  of  them 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  697 

twenty-two  inches  in  length,  and  counted  several  with  two  hundred 
and  fifty  grains  to  the  head.  One  of  my  neighbors  this  season  had  a 
large  field  of  nearly  fifty  acres  that  threshed  sixty-eight  bushels  per 
acre,  the  land  being  manured  to  obtain  this  result.  An  average  crop 
of  oats  will  be  about  thirty-five  bushels.  Barley  will  thresh  as  high 
as  fifty  bushels,  an  average  crop  about  thirty  bushels.  Peas  I  have 
threshed  forty  bushels  per  acre ;  the  same  land  would  not  yield  over 
twenty-five  of  oats.  That  is  the  great  point  in  favor  of  peas,  as  they 
will  grow  on  the  very  poorest  land,  and  they  rather  tend  to  enrich 
instead  of  to  impoverish  the  land,  and  one  pound  of  peas  is  equal  to 
one  pound  of  corn  to  raise  pork,  or  fed  to  almost  any  animal ;  there- 
fore I  say  that  this  valley  could  raise  sufficient  pork  to  supply  the 
State,  and  the  day  is  coming  when  we  shall  cure  and  pack  that  staple 
article. 

"  Some  of  my  potatoes  yielded  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  mar- 
ketable potatoes  this  season  per  acre.  Cabbage,  forty  thousand  pounds 
per  acre,  an  average  crop  being  about  twenty-five  thousand  pounds. 
An  average  crop  of  potatoes  is  about  twelve  thousand  pounds.  I 
weighed  a  cauliflower  the  past  season,  and  found  its  weight  to  be  fif- 
teen pounds,  without  a  leaf.  Beets,  carrots,  parsnips,  and  onions  do 
remarkably  well." 

Another  farmer  in  the  same  park  writes  :  — 

"  The  first  year  broke  three  acres  of  land ;  planted  one  acre  in  oats 
and  two  in  potatoes  ;  latter  turned  off  ten  thousand  pounds  per  acre, 
and  sold  for  four  cents  per  pound  ;  total  income  first  year,  eight  hun- 
dred dollars.  Second  year,  used  same  ground  and  cut  eight  tons  of 
wild  hay ;  income  about  the  same.  Third  year,  cut  one  hundred  tons 
wild  hay,  which  sold  for  fourteen  dollars  per  ton,  and  later  in  season 
brought  twenty-two  dollars  and  a  half.  Have  now  been  on  my  farm 
for  eleven  years ;  have  a  good  house,  barn,  and  fences,  the  property 
being  worth  thirty  thousand  dollars,  on  which  valuation  it  pays  ten 
per  cent  per  annum." 

Before  railroads  reached  Colorado,  many  articles  of  food  were 
scarce,  and  fabulous  prices  were  realized.  A  single  farm  cleared 
seventeen  thousand  dollars  for  its  owner  from  a  crop  of  potatoes.  A 
farmer  near  Denver  planted  between  two  and  three  hundred  acres  of 
potatoes,  which  yielded  him  fifty  thousand  bushels,  and  he  sold  them 
for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  His  yield  per  acre  was  much  smaller  than 
that  of  several  Colorado  farmers  the  same  year,  who  raised  from  five 
hundred  to  eight  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  though  this  was  an  excep- 
tional yield. 


698 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


The  report  of  the  "  Denver  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Board  of 
Trade"  for  1885  report  average  crops  as  follows  :  — 


Wheat,  per  acre     .....     •     •     25  bushels. 

Oats,  "  45        " 

Barley,        "  40        " 


Corn,  per  acre 35  bushels. 

Potatoes, "  200       " 

Onions,     "          250       " 


The  same  report  says,  also  :  — 

"There  are  vineyards  in  the  vicinity  of  Boulder  that  have  for  two 
years  past  produced  twelve  tons  of  grapes  per  acre  each  season,  of 
marketable,  luscious  fruit,  comprising  such  varieties  as  the  Concord, 
Delaware,  Salem,  Martha,  Brighton,  and  Catawba,  while  at  Canon 
City  and  near  there,  in  the  Arkansas  Valley,  thousands  of  vines  are 
producing  every  year  from  six  to  ten  tons  per  acre  without  fertilizers, 
and  not  having  to  be  buried  in  winter.  With  winter  protection,  the 
choice  European  and  California  grapes  can  be  produced  abundantly 
and  profitably,  such  as  Black  Hamburg,  Sweetwater  Chasseles,  Tokay, 
Missouri,  Seedless,  Sultana,  and  Muscats.  .  .  .  One  orchard  near 
Florence  has  produced  eight  thousand  bushels  of  apples  of  fine 
quality  in  one  year.  .  .  .  Colorado  apples  are  especially  fine  as  re- 
gards flavor  and  keeping  qualities,  and  are  of  good  marketable  size, 
all  of  which  was  demonstrated  at  the  New  Orleans  Exhibition  of 
1885  and  1886,  when  over  one  hundred  varieties  were  there  shown, 
and  captured  four  out  of  the  twelve  first  premiums  awarded.  After 
almost  every  sample  from  other  States  had  decayed,  and  even  those 
from  Germany  and  Russia,  ours  were  in  good  condition." 

Other  facts,  showing  the  agricultural  marvels  of  this  locality,  will 
appear  in  the  sequel,  as  we  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject 
of  Irrigation.  A  few  miscellaneous  items  of  interest,  however,  may 
be  added  at  this  point. 

Eastern  people  suppose  that  Arizona  is  a  barren  and  desolate 
region,  when  actual  experiments  have  proved  that  much  of  the  soil 
is  unsurpassed  in  richness  and  fertility.  In  the  southern  part  of  the 
Territory  the  farmer  grows  two  crops  a  year.  Thousands  of  acres 
have  been  irrigated  and  cultivated  with  remarkable  success  ;  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  acres  more  are  waiting  for  the  magic  touch  of  water 
to  develop  their  productive  possibilities.  Nor  is  Arizona  destitute  of 
water ;  for  several  of  the  finest  rivers  of  the  New  West  traverse  its 
territory.  The  Pima  Indians  have  raised  wheat  along  the  Gila  from 
time  immemorial,  and  yet  to-day  the  land  is  as  good  as  new.  Within 
two  years  extensive  experiments  have  been  made  in  the  Territory  to 
raise  crops  without  irrigation,  and  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat  to  the 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  699 

acre  was  the  result,  more  than  the  average  per  acre  in  the  United 
States.     The  following  facts  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader :  — 

"  Last  year  Mr.  Isaacs  received  seven  and  a  half  pounds  of  Early 
Club  wheat  from  the  Granger's  Bank  in  San  Francisco,  which  he 
cultivated  carefully,  dropping  it  by  hand,  one  grain  at  a  time,  from 
which  he  harvested  2,300  pounds.  This  season  he  has  forty  acres  of 
it,  which  are  counted  in  with  balance  of  crop  at  1,500  and  1,600 
pounds  per  acre.  His  possessions  are:  Home  place,  400  acres  — 
in  alfalfa,  100  acres;  eighty  acres  wheat,  1,500  pounds  per  acre  — 
120,000  pounds;  140  acres  barley,  1,700  pounds  per  acre  —  238,000 
pounds;  eight  acres  oats,  1,500  pounds  per  acre — 12,000  pounds; 
garden  six  acres,  1 50  fruit-trees,  200  bearing  grapes,  and  three  acres 
sorghum.  On  place  at  west  end  of  Grand  Canal,  farmed  by  himself 
and  J.  B.  Barton  —  650  acres  —  there  are  400  acres  wheat,  1,600 
pounds  per  acre  —  640,000  pounds  ;  250  acres  barley,  1,500  pounds 
per  acre  —  375,000  pounds.  This  is  the  first  crop,  which  is  never 
equal  to  the  second  or  third." 

"  M.  Meader  has  160  acres  just  north  of  town,  fronting  on  the 
Prescott  road  ;  has  100  acres  in  alfalfa  and  60  acres  in  wheat  and 
barley  —  1,500  pounds  per  acres  —  90,000  pounds  ;  has  5,000  vines  in 
bearing  and  500  fruit-trees,  also  bearing.  He  cuts  alfalfa  for  hay ; 
next  crop  will  cut  for  seed  and  will  make  300  pounds  per  acre,  which 
will  be  worth  ten  cents  per  pound  wholesale.  This  will  make  $3,000 
for  this  one  crop.  Four  crops  of  hay  at  two  tons  per  acre  per  crop  — 
800  tons  — which,  at  eight  dollars  per  ton  in  stack,  will  make  $6,400, 
or  $9,400  for  the  100  acres  in  this  useful  plant.  Place  is  all  under 
fence ;  five  strands  of  barbed  wire,  making  it  hog-tight ;  cottonwood 
posts  all  growing." 

"John  B.  Montgomery  has  287  acres,  highly  improved,  adjoining 
town  on  the  south.  He  has  125  acres  in  alfalfa  and  raised  50  acres 
of  wheat  and  barley.  He  has  a  splendid  orchard  of  choice  fruit; 
1,000  trees,  all  told,  old  and  young.  They  range  from  three  to  five 
years  old.  He  has  1,000  grape-vines  in  bearing.  Had  ripe  pears  the 
1 5th  of  June,  and  his  summer  apples  were  gone  a  long  time  ago.  He 
has  a  dairy  of  fifty  cows,  fine  stock,  breeding  nothing  but  the  best. 
He  has  a  fine  Durham  bull,  imported,  whose  blood  tells  in  the  young 
stock  we  saw  around  the  place." 

We  cat',  add  only  the  following  facts  :  — 

"The  books  of  one  of  Wyoming  Territory  dairymen,  which  may 
be  essentially  duplicated  by  scores,  show  the  following  for  one 
year :  — 


700  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

Ranch,  site,  buildings,  etc $1,200 

50  cows  at  $40;   2  sires  at  $75 2,150 

Two  assistants,  wages  and  hoard 960 

50  tons  of  hay  at  $6 300 

Minor  expenses 200 


14,000  pounds  butter  at  40  cents $5,600 

12,000  gallons  milk  at  30  cents 600 

34  calves  sold  at  $10    .     .     .     .     : ' 340 

Total $6,540 

Less  expenses 4,810 

Profit  one  year $1,730 

"That  her  soil,  climate,  and  grass  render  Wyoming  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  raising  of  stock,  is  asserted  by  those  who  have  tried 
it,  or  have  noted  the  similarity  of  general  conditions  to  some  place  of 
established  reputation  of  years  as  a  stock  country,  and  is  moreover 
shown  by  actual  figures.  Wyoming  pasturage  consists  of  fifty-five 
thousand  square  miles  upon  which  cattle  subsist  the  year  round,  with 
twenty-five  thousand  square  miles  additional,  which  is  unexcelled  in 
summer,  while  sheltered  valleys  offer  an  ever-ready  protection  to 
stock  in  time  of  storms. 

"  It  has  been  proven  that  the  cereals,  vegetables,  and  small  fruits 
can  be  raised  with  uniform  success  and  at  magnificent  profits.  The 
area  capable  of  this  production  includes  thirteen  million  acres,  con- 
taining these  very  elements,  in  constantly  renewing  quantities,  the 
lack  of  which  the  Eastern  farmer  must  supply  by  plaster  of  paris, 
bonedust,  etc." 

A  resident  of  Washington  Territory  writes  :  — 

"  It  has  been  told  abroad  that  we  cannot  raise  fruit  in  this  section 
of  country,  that  we  are  too  far  north.  As  a  contradiction  to  this,  we 
state  that  within  twelve  miles  of  this  city  there  are  a  dozen  orchards, 
all  thrifty  and  bearing.  We  can  give  the  names  of  more  than  fifty 
farmers  who  this  year  have  bought  young  trees,  with  which  to  start 
orchards.  Mr.  H.  N.  Muzzy,  a  mile  from  town  north,  has  this  season 
set  out  one  thousand  apple  and  two  hundred  other  trees. 

"  The  best  contradiction  to  the  assertion  that  we  are  too  far  north, 
is  in  the  fact  that  John  Rickey,  who  lives  eighty  miles  north  of 
Spokane  Falls,  has  a  large  orchard,  and  last  season  produced  a  large 
quantity  of  splendid  fruit.  And  still  further,  there  are  here  on  exhi- 
bition a  few  apples  forwarded  by  Judge  Labrie,  from  the  seven  hun- 
dred trees'  orchard  of  F.  R.  Smith,  who  lives  within  a  mile  of  the 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


/OI 


fort^'-ninth  parallel,  and  near  Okanagan  Lake,  a  long  journey  to  the 
north  and  west  of  Spokane  Falls.  These  apples  are  not  very  large 
and  sound,  but  of  excellent  flavor,  equal  to  any  fruit  produced  in 
Indiana,  Ohio,  or  New  York.  Mr.  Smith  had  plenty  of  peaches, 
plums,  pears,  and  melons  during  last  season. 

"  R.  G.  Williamson,  who  came  from  Kansas  five  years  ago,  has  oper- 
ated a  farm  five  miles  east  of  this  place,  taking  land  that  was  supposed 
to  be  almost  worthless,  has  been  marketing  gooseberries  for  four 
years,  has  cherry-trees  two  years  old,  bearing  fruit,  and  peach-trees 


LOGGING    NEAR    OLYMPIA. 


in  bloom  the  second  year  from  the  planting  of  the  pit.  He  has  prunes, 
plums,  apples,  and  currants,  and  has  been  more  fortunate  with  these 
fruits  here  than  he  was  in  Kansas.  He  gives  us  the  names  of  half-a- 
dozen  neighbors  who  have  been  equally  fortunate  in  this  respect." 

The  scene  represented  above  is  in  the  woods,  near  Olympia, 
Washington  Territory.  The  most  magnificent  forests  of  fir  abound 
in  this  region,,  many  of  them  so  enormous  in  bulk  as  to  suggest  the 
"big  trees  "  of  Yosemite.  This  lumber  region  furnishes  a  large  part 
of  the  commerce  of  Puget  Sound,  and  the  lumber  business  has  grown 
into  immense  proportions.  This  fir-tree  is  found  in  Oregon  as  well 


/O2 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW   WEST. 


as  Washington.  Nothing  but  the  expense  of  carrying  lumber  around 
Cape  Horn  to  foreign  countries  prevents  a  vast  amount  being  trans- 
ported thither.  When  the  Eads'  plan  of  crossing  the  Isthmus  shall 
be  consummated,  the  most  profitable  and  largest  business  of  Oregon 
and  Washington  will  be  that  of  lumber. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  present  a  view  of  salmon-fishing  on  the 
Columbia  River,  —  one  of  the  most  remarkable  industries  of  the  New 
West.  But  since  the  preceding  illustration  presents  a  great  industry 
of  this  region,  we  present  one  cut  to  represent  the  fish-wheel  that  is 
used  upon  that  river  in  the  prosecution  of  a  business  which  is  done 
for  the  world  ;  for  its  products  extend  to  every  land  and  sea. 


FISH  WHEEL  ON  THE  COLUMBIA. 


IRRIGATION. 

We  have  made  frequent  reference  to  irrigation  in  different  parts  of 
the  New  West.  Eastern  farmers  pity  the  Western  farmers,  because 
they  are  made  dependent  upon  artificial  means  to  supply  water ;  and 
Western  farmers  pity  the  Eastern,  because  they  must  depend  upon 
the  uncertain  supply  of  water  from  the  clouds.  That  the  farmers  of 
the  New  West  have  the  advantage  there  can  be  no  question.  They 
can  command  water  when  they  want  it.  If  God  were  to  give  the 
Eastern  farmer  control  of  showers  and  storms,  so  that  by  easy  act  he 
could  bring  a  shower  or  storm  at  his  will,  he  would  stand  in  about 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


703 


the  same  relation  to  a  good  supply  of  water  that  the  Rocky  Mountain 
farmer  does.  The  latter  defies  a  drought.  He  knows  that  the  driest 
weather  will  not  dry  up  his  crops.  The  advantage  of  this  arrange- 
ment is  enforced  by  the  fact  that  one-fourth  of  all  the  crops  of  the 
world,  on  the  average,  are  destroyed  by  droughts.  There  are  four 
million  acres  in  Colorado  and  New  Mexico  watered  only  by  rains, 
and  they  offer  poor  inducements  to  men  to  engage  in  agriculture. 
But  irrigation  removes  this  insuperable  obstacle,  and  causes  sage-bush 
land  to  yield  like  a  garden. 

Originally  one  farmer 
alone,  or  several  unitedly, 
met  the  expense  of  irriga- 
tion. But  now  large  com- 
panies are  organized  to 
make  money  by  selling 
water  to  farmers.  Also 
large  companies  buy  im- 
mense tracts  of  land,  and 
when  they  have  brought  it 
under  irrigation,  cut  it  up 
into  farms  for  sale.  Some 
facts  that  follow  will  in- 
terest the  reader  in  this 
subject  of  irrigation. 

A  writer  says  :  "  Irriga- 
tion is  simply  scientific 
farming.  The  tiller  .of  the 
soil  is  not  left  at  the  mercy 
of  fortuitous  rains.  His 

capital    and   labor  are  not  IRRIGATING. 

risked  upon  an  adventure. 

He  can  plan  with  all  the  certainty  and  confidence  of  a  mechanic.  He 
is  a  chemist,  whose  laboratory  is  a  certain  area  of  land ;  everything 
but  the  water  is  at  hand,  —  the  bright  sun,  the  potash  and  other  min- 
eral ingredients  (not  washed  out  of  the  soil  by  centuries  of  rain). 
His  climate  secures  him  always  from  an  excess  of  moisture,  and 
what  nature  fails  to  yield,  greater  or  less,  according  to  the  season,  the 
farmer  supplies  from  his  irrigating  canal,  and  with  it  he  introduces, 
without  other  labor,  the  most  valuable  fertilizing  ingredients,  with 
which  the  water,  in  its  course  through  the  mountains,  has  become 
charged. " 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


A  writer  in  Kansas  describes  an  irrigating  ditch  as  follows :  — 
"  Last  week  I  visited  Spearville,  and  called  at  the  camp  of  the 
Irrigating  Ditch  Company ;  I  was  kindly  instructed  in  regard  to  the 
project  by  John  Gilbert,  of  that  city,  who  has  the  work  in  charge. 
The  ditch  begins  above  Cimarron,  passes  just  north  of  Spearville, 
and  re-enters  the  Arkansas  at  Kinsley.  It  is  ninety-five  miles  long, 
forty-five  feet  wide,  and  twelve  feet  deep.  The  main  ditch  is  now 
completed,  and  they  are  at  work  on  the  side  ditches.  It  has  a 
capacity  to  carry  water  for  one-half  million  acres. 


METHOD  OF  IRRIGATING.. 

"They  have  seven  ditch-ploughs,  which  are  quite  a  contrivance. 
The  plough  is  set  in  a  heavy  frame,  and  throws  the  dirt  on  a  heavy 
canvas,  twenty-two  feet  long,  which  can  be  set  at  any  angle,  and 
thus  carry  the  dirt  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  to  the  top  of  the 
embankment.  It  is  propelled  by  twelve  horses,  —  eight  in  front  and 
four  behind,  —  and  requires  three  men  to  operate  it  —  two  to  drive- 
and  one  to  attend  to  the  machinery.  Each  plough  costs  one  thousand 
dollars.  There  are  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  stock  in  the 
company  now,  and  Dr.  Soule,  the  proprietor  of  Hop  Bitters,  is  ad- 
vancing most  of  the  capital.  He  is  said  to  be  worth  millions,  which 
he  has  made  out  of  the  above-mentioned  medicine ;  so  that  if  the 


MARVELS.  OF  AGRICULTURE.  705 

ditch  proves  a  success,  as  it  probably  will,  it  may  be  truthfully  said 
that  Southwestern  Kansas  is  irrigated  with  Hop  Bitters." 

"  The  method  of  applying  water  to  fields  is  illustrated  by  the 
above  sketch,  showing  the  main  canal,  the  lateral  taken  out  of  it,  and 
the  small  distributing  laterals  running  through  the  various  fields. 
This  is  the  flooding  system,  which  is  generally  practised  by  Colorado 
farmers.  The  distributing  laterals  are  simply  cut  by  a  hoe  or  spade, 
and  the  water  allowed  to  flow  out  and  spread  over  the  surface  as  far 
as  it  will  go  and  sink  as  deep  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  the  required 
moisture  to  the  roots  of  the  growing  grain.  It  will  be  seen  that  one 
man  can  look  after  the  distribution  of  water  over  a  large  area  by  this 
crude  but  effectual  method,  since  the  main  lateral  is  sufficiently  large 
to  supply  a  number  of  distributing  ones  that  directly  reach  the  grow- 
ing grain,  which  is  generally  sown  in  drills.  When  the  field  is  suffi- 
ciently watered  the  cuts  are  closed  up  by  throwing  a  shovelful  of  dirt 
against  the  gap,  and  the  water  allowed  to  flow  to  a  different  part  of 
the  field  ;  and  so  on,  until  the  whole  field  is  irrigated. 

"There  is  another  method,  used  when  corn  or  potatoes  or  other 
crops  are  growing  ;  it  is  called  the  furrow  method,  the  water  follow- 
ing the  hollow  between  the  rows  made  by  throwing  the  soil  on  either 
side  with  a  shovel-plough.  The  water  seeps  down  and  sideways, 
readily  reaching  the  roots  to  be  benefited  by  it.  This  method  is  also 
adopted  in  orchards  and  vineyards,  as  well  as  small  fruit  gardens." 

We  have  spoken  of  San  Luis  Park,  and  its  deep,  rich  soil.  The 
State  Land,  No.  2,  Canal  Company  has  opened  one  hundred  twenty- 
five  thousand  acres  of  land  in  that  park  by  bringing  it  under  irriga- 
tion. The  following  picture  shows  the  headgate. 

Other  irrigating  companies  bring  other  thousands  of  acres  of  land 
in  this  wonderful  park  into  the  market.  Farmers  can  purchase  the 
best  of  land  here,  as  much  or  little  as  they  want,  at  very  low  figures, 
all  well-watered,  and  waiting  "to  be  tickled  with  a  hoe." 

Colorado  has  more  than  one  thousand  miles  of  irrigating  canals 
and  ditches,  which  can  water  well  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
acres.  These  lands  can  be  purchased  for  from  one  dollar  twenty-five 
cents  to  two  dollars  fifty  cents  per  acre,  the  latter  being  the  Govern- 
ment price  for  lands  where  there  is  a  railroad  land  grant.  The  large 
canal  corporations  of  the  State  control  three  hundred  thousand  acres 
which  they  offer  for  sale  at  from  four  to  fifteen  dollars  per  acre 
according  to  location. 

The  rainfall  in  Colorado  is  about  fourteen  inches  for  the  year, 
which  is  insufficient,  of  course,  for  agricultural  purposes.  For  expe- 


706 


MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 


rience  has  proved  that  the  amount  of  water  necessary  during  the 
cropping  season  when  irrigation  is  required,  is  equivalent  to  thirty 
inches  deep  upon  the  land  if  it  were  applied  all  at  once ;  or  that  one 
cubic  foot  per  second  flowing  night  and  day  for  one  hundred  days 
will  irrigate  eighty  acres  of  land.  Moreover,  this  water  from  the 
mountains  contains  a  natural  fertilizer  peculiar  to  itself,  which  con- 
stantly enriches  the  soil. 

The  two  large  irrigating  companies  of  Colorado  are  the  Loan  and 
Trust  Company,  and  the  Platte  Land  Company.  The  first  has  con- 
structed ten  large  canals,  —  one  of  them,  the  Del  Norte,  the  largest 
in  the  world.  The  principal  canal  is  one  hundred  feet  wide,  and  has 
fifty-six  miles  of  constructed  channel,  and  ninety  miles  of  the  Sag- 


HEADGATE. 


wache  branch  canal  included.  It  delivers  two  thousand  five  hundred 
cubic  feet  of  water  per  second,  or  one  billion  six  hundred  twenty 
million  gallons  every  twenty-four  hours.  There  were  one  million 
seven  hundred  fifty  thousand  cubic  yards  of  gravel,  rock,  and  earth 
excavated  from  the  channel,  requiring  an  army  of  three  thousand  five 
hundred  men  and  two  thousand  teams  to  perform  the  great  work. 
The  largest  canal  in  Italy  —  the  Naviglio  Grande  —  is  but  half  as 
large  as  the  Del  Norte,  and  cost  twelve  million  dollars. 

The  "  Big  Greeley  Ditch,"  as  it  is  called,  is  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Cache  la  Poudre  River.  It  is  thirty-six  miles  long,  with  three 
to  three  and  one-half  feet  depth  of  water,  and  is  twenty-five  feet  wide 
on  the  bottom  at  its  head,  diminishing  to  fifteen  feet  at  Greeley. 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  707 

Its  fall  is  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  and  a  half  feet  per  mile.  The 
cost  of  this  irrigating  canal  was  sixty-six  thousand  dollars.  Another 
ditch,  on  the  south  of  the  river,  is  eleven  miles  long,  and  twelve  feet 
vvide  at  the  bottom,  with  two  and  one-half  feet  depth  of  water. 

Tree-culture  increases  rapidly  in  California  and  other  parts  of  the 
New  West,  by  irrigation  ;  and  its  profits,  as  we  have  seen,  are  some- 
what marvellous.  The  next  illustration  shows  the  process  of  irri- 
gating trees,  which  is  usually  done  but  three  or  four  times  during 
the  season.  Rev.  Robert  Strong,  of  Westminster,  Cal.,  gathered 
eight  hundred  pounds  of  apples  from  one  Rhode  Island  Greening 
tree,  which  he  sold  for  sixteen  dollars.  One  ranch  in  Los  Angeles 
County  has  sixteen  thousand  orange  and  lemon  trees,  two  thousand 
pomegranates,  three  thousand  English  walnut,  five  thousand  almond, 
three  thousand  peach,  four  thousand  pear,  two  thousand  apricot,  one 
thousand  fig,  with  twelve  hundred  acres  in  grape-vines,  —  all  under 
a  complete  system  of  irrigation. 

A  new  method  of  irrigation  has  been  introduced  into  Southern 
California,  called  "underground  irrigation."  A  writer  describes  it 
as  follows  :  — 

"  We  have  spoken  now  only  of  surface  irrigation.  Where  water 
is  scarce,  as  in  some  of  the  extreme  southern  counties,  or  where  there 
is  more  good  land  than  can  be  well  irrigated  from  the  streams  by 
surface  irrigation,  a  system  of  underground  irrigation  has  been 
adopted; 

"  It  should  perhaps  be  explained,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have 
always  lived  in  a  wet  country,  that  when  water  is  run  over  the  soil 
under  a  very  dry  atmosphere  and  a  cloudless  sky,  evaporation  is  very 
great ;  so  great,  indeed,  that  when  water  is  scarce  it  becomes  an 
object  to  prevent  this  evaporation,  and  thus  secure  all  the  benefit 
of  all  the  water  for  the  use  of  the  growing  crop. 

"  To  meet  this  want  an  underground  system  of  irrigation  by  per- 
forated pipes  has  been  invented  and  put  in  use,  and  is  proving  of 
immense  benefit.  The  pipe  is  now  generally  made  of  concrete.  The 
ditches  are  dug  (say)  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  apart  over  the  field,  or  in 
the  middle  of  the  space  between  the  rows  of  trees  in  an  orchard,  and 
by  a  machine  having  a  feeding  hopper,  the  concrete,  ready  mixed,  is 
fed  into  the  hopper,  and  the  machine  converts  it  into  the  required 
size  pipe,  and  at  the  same  time  moves  along  in  the  ditch,  leaving  the 
pipe  behind  it.  The  same  machinery  perforates  the  pipe,  so  that 
the  water  is  let  out  of  it  in  quantities  required,  the  pipe  being  from 
one  and  a  half  to  three  feet  below  the  surface. 


708 


MARVELS   OF  THE  NEW  WEST- 


MARVELS  OF  AGRICULTURE.  709 

The  cost  of  irrigation  and  amount  of  water  necessary  to  be  applied 
to  an  acre  depends  upon  the  method  by  which  water  is  applied  (four 
methods  are  used  in  the  New  West),  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and  the 
kind  of  crop.  The  cost  of  water  per  acre  in  Colorado,  by  flooding, 
is  from  a  dollar  and  a  half  to  three  dollars  per  acre. 

The  check  system  prevails  in  California  and  New  Mexico  in 
applying  water,  and  a  cubic  foot  of  water  is  made  to  irrigate  seventy 
acres,  while  by  flooding,  a  cubic  foot  of  water  will  irrigate  but  sixty 
acres.  By  the  check  system  the  land  is  divided  into  squares  by 
ridges,  into  one  of  which  the  water  is  admitted  and  allowed  to  run 
until  it  is  completely  covered.  Then  the  water  is  conducted  into  the 
adjoining  square  by  cutting  a  small  channel  through  the  ridge.  This 
system  requires  some  labor,  but  decided  economy  in  the  use  of  water 
is  gained. 

Artesian  wells  have  served  a  good  purpose  in  irrigating  the  land, 
not  only  in  California,  but  in  other  parts  of  the  New  West,  also. 
In  1882  twelve  artesian  wells  were  sunk  in  Tulare  County,  Cal., 
resulting  in  a  complete  revolution  in  agriculture.  These  wells  flowed 
nearly  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  gallons  daily  ;  and  the 
desert  lands  were  converted  into  wheat-fields,  vineyards,  and  orchards 
of  wonderful  thrift.  Similar  wells  with  similar  results  have  been 
multiplied  in  Colorado,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  Nevada. 

We  add  only  the  following  facts  concerning  irrigation  in  Western 
Kansas  :  — 

"  Now,  a  word  or  two  as  to  what  has  been  done.  Last  year  one 
farmer  sold  one  thousand  three  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  onions  and 
sweet  potatoes  from  four  acres.  He  irrigated  the  ground  four  times. 
Another  man  harvested  ten  acres  of  oats,  which  he  irrigated  three 
times.  He  got  an  average  of  a  little  over  sixty  bushels  per  acre, 
weighing  forty  pounds  to  the  bushel.  Another  farmer  had  in  eight 
acres  of  oats  ;  watered  six  acres  three  times  and  the  other  two  acres 
not  at  all,  and  got  an  average  of  sixty-six  bushels  to  the  acre.  One 
man  raised  five  hundred  bushels  of  onions  on  one  and  one-sixteenth 
acres.  Still  another  harvested  nine  tons  per  acre  from  five  acres  of 
alfalfa,  cutting  it  three  times  during  the  summer.  The  last  cutting 
was  after  the  grass  had  gone  to  seed.  It  yielded  twenty-one  bushels 
of  seed  per  acre.  Two  miles  west  of  town,  Squire  Worrel  has  a  fine 
orchard.  Other  farmers  have  done  well  with  fruit.  From  such 
figures  the  reader  may  get  some  idea  of  what  can  be  accomplished 
by  irrigation." 


710  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  New  West.  Compared  with 
the  aggregate  realities  of  the  wonderful  regions,  it  is  only  a  glimpse. 
We  have  seen  enough,  however,  to  satisfy  us  that  it  is  a  veritable 
"Wonderland,"  as  crowded  with  OPPORTUNITIES  as  it  is  with  mar- 
vels. Men  live  rapidly  here — a  whole  month  in  one  day,  a  whole 
year  in  a  month.  Some  have  lived  a  hundred  years  in  the  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  they  have  spent  here.  They  have  seen  an  empire  rise 
and  grow  rich  and  powerful  in  that  time.  The  changes  wrought 
under  their  own  eyes  have  been  almost  as  startling  as  transforma- 
tions under  the  wand  of  a  magician,  —  such  strides  of  progress  as 
usually  exist  only  in  dreams.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  concentrated 
His  wisdom  and  power  upon  this  part  of  our  country,  to  make  it  His 
crowning  work  of  modern  civilization  on  this  Western  Continent. 
For  its  history  is  Providence  illustrated,  — God  in  the  affairs  of  men 
to  exhibit  the  grandeur  of  human  enterprise  and  the  glory  of  human 
achievement. 

When  sojourning  on  the  Pacific  Slope,  bewildered  by  its  marvels, 
the  question  arose,  Why  did  the  settlement  of  our  country  begin  in 
the  East  instead  of  in  the  West  ?  Why  did  the  "  Pilgrim  Fathers  " 
land  on  the  coast  of  New  England  instead  of  the  coast  of  California  ? 
Why  seek  their  fortunes  among  the  rocks  of  Plymouth  instead  of  the 
gold  mines  of  the  Pacific  coast  ?  The  same  hand,  that  guided  them  to 
the  "  rock-bound  shores  "  of  the  Atlantic  might  have  led  them  to  the 
"  gold-fretted  shores "  of  the  Pacific.  There  is  no  solution  to  the 
problem  except  in  the  wonder-working  Providence  of  God.  On  this 
continent  was  to  be  built  up  the  largest,  richest,  most  intelligent,  and 
powerful  Christian  nation  on  earth.  A  fearless,  self-sacrificing,  intel- 
ligent, hardy  Christian  race,  disciplined  by  perils  and  hardships  inde- 
scribable, could  alone  lay  the  foundations  and  work  out  the  grand 
problem.  Hence,  rocks  were  better  for  them  than  nuggets  of  gold. 
A  soil  that  would  yield  bread  enough  to  keep  the  wolf  of  hunger 
from  the  door  only  by  constant  "sweat  of  the  brow  "  was  indispensa- 
ble, rather  than  a  soil  that  would  yield  the  necessaries  of  life  and 
luxuries  of  the  tropics  in  profusion,  with  little  care  and  labor.  Noth- 
ing but  hunger  and  nakedness  forced  them  to  plunge  still  further  into 
the  wilderness,  as  the  population  increased,  at  the  risk  of  being 
devoured  by  wild  beasts  or  slain  by  savages.  Beset  with  troubles 
on  every  side,  and  harassed  by  dangers  that  required  the  stoutest 
courage  to  meet,  the  higher  and  noble  attributes  of  humanity  were 


CONCLUSION.  711 

forced  to  the  front,  as,  from  generation  to  generation,  "  westward  the 
star  of  empire  took  its  way." 

Had  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  San  Francisco  instead  of  Plymouth, 
and  the  treasure-vaults  of  California  been  opened  by  their  enterprise, 
as  they  opened  to  their  descendants  in  1848,  doubtless  the  race  would 
have  been  enervated  by  the  luxury,  extravagance,  and  ease  which 
usually  succeed  sudden  transition  from  poverty  to  wealth.  Finding 
a  rich  soil  that  yielded  sixty  and  a  hundred  fold  with  a  quarter  part 
of  the  labor  required  to  secure  a  scanty  subsistence  on  the  coast  of 
New  England,  the  goading  incentive  to  work  or  starve  would  have 
been  removed,  followed  by  idleness,  prodigality,  and  effeminacy. 
Not  being  forced  to  push  out  into  the  wilderness,  further  and  further, 
to  obtain  the  means  of  living,  it  is  doubtful  if  New  England  would 
have  been  settled  to-day.  For,  with  every  factor  in  the  problem  of 
creating  and  building  up  a  great  Christian  nation,  beginning  at  the 
East,  favoring  the  purpose,  generations  lived  and  died  before  the 
occupation  of  the  New  West  was  thought  to  be  possible ;  and  not 
until  within  forty  years  did  the  children  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  set 
themselves  to  work  to  complete  their  empire  by  transforming  the 
Western  wilderness  into  a  capstone  of  gold. 

Reverse  the  opportunity  ;  begin  the  experiment  at  the  West  in- 
stead of  the  East ;  supply  gold  for  granite,  and  a  rich  for  a  barren 
soil ;  let  plenty  take  the  place  of  poverty,  and  men  command  the 
means  of  a  livelihood  without  stress  of  plan  or  labor ;  and  what  rea- 
son have  we  to  believe  that  they  would  have  left  the  Eldorado  dis- 
covered, and  penetrated  the  wilderness,  crossing  the  Missouri  and 
Mississippi  rivers  and  the  "Great  Lakes,"  felling  vast  forests,  build- 
ing towns  and  cities  by  Herculean  labors,  and  finally  reaching  the 
Atlantic  coast  to  make  the  New  England  of  to-day  ?  Such  a  result 
is  not  supposable.  All  the  conditions  indicate  that  in  the  Divine 
Plan  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  lay  the  foundations  in  granite 
that  the  superstructure  might  be  finished  in  gold.  Neither  science, 
.art,  learning,  or  religion  was  competent  to  handle  such  marvellous 
wealth  as  lay  concealed  within  the  domain  of  the  New  West.  When 
"the  fulness  of  time"  came,  religion  and  learning,  science  and  art, 
commerce  and  enterprise,  had  multiplied  their  institutions  and  power 
so  wonderfully,  that  they  could  employ  the  millions  and  billions  of 
wealth  marvellously  evolved  to  lift  up  humanity,  and  contribute  to 
the  more  rapid  growth  of  a  model  Christian  civilization.  Such  a  use 
of  treasure  was  impossible  two  hundred  years  ago. 

Andrew  Carnegie,  a  native  of  Great  Britain,  but  an  adopted  son 


712  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

of  the  United  States,  opens  his  very  able  and  valuable  work,  "  Tri- 
umphant Democracy,"  with  the  following  paragraph  :  — 

"  The  old  nations  of  the  earth  creep  on  at  a  snail's  pace ;  the 
Republic  thunders  past  with  the  rush  of  the  express.  The  United 
States,  the  growth  of  a  single  century,  has  already  reached  the  fore- 
most rank  among  nations,  and  is  destined  soon  to  out-distance  all 
others  in  the  race.  In  population,  in  wealth,  in  annual  saving,  and 
in  public  credit,  in  freedom  from  debt,  in  agriculture,  and  in  manufac- 
tures, America  already  leads  the  civilized  world. 

"  France,  with  her  fertile  plains  and  sunny  skies,  requires  a  hun- 
dred and  sixty  years  to  grow  two  Frenchmen  where  one  grew  before. 
Great  Britain,  whose  rate  of  increase  is  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
European  nation,  takes  seventy  years  to  double  her  population.  The 
Republic  has  repeatedly  doubled  hers  in  twenty-five  years." 

He  closes  his  remarkable  volume  by  the  following  statements 
among  many  others  :  — 

"The  wealthiest  nation  in  the  world." 

"The  nation  first  in  public  credit  and  in  payment  of  debt." 

"The  greatest  agricultural  nation  in  the  world." 

"  The  greatest  mining  nation  in  the  world." 

But  the  New  West  has  made  this  result  possible.  Its  mines,  farms, 
flocks,  and  herds,  and  exceptionable  enterprise  contribute  enough  to 
the  Republic's  grand  total  of  possessions  to  make  these  statements 
indisputable.  The  United  States  incurred  a  debt  of  three  billion 
dollars  in  self-defence  against  the  slaveholders'  rebellion,  and  the  riches 
of  the  New  West  has  enabled  the  government  to  liquidate  more  than 
half  of  it  already ;  and  the  time  is  near  when  the  last  dollar  of  it  will 
be  paid  because  of  the  great  wealth  that  is  stored  in  Western  vaults. 
Devote  to  the  liquidation  of  the  national  debt  the  annual  product  of 
the  mines  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in 
less  than  ten  years  the  debt  would  be  extinguished.  Or,  devote  the 
vast  annual  income  of  the  cattle-ranches,  which  cover  so  large  a  por- 
tion of  this  great  domain,  to  the  same  purpose,  and  in  an  equally 
brief  period  our  national  liabilities  would  wholly  disappear.  Or, 
annually  appropriate  the  aggregate  profits  of  agriculture  and  com- 
merce within  this  large  and  booming  territory  to  the  removal  of  this 
burden  of  indebtedness,  and  in  less  time  than  we  have  named  the 
nation  would  witness  its  extinguishment,  and  celebrate  the  occasion 
with  bonfires  and  illuminations. 

The  author  of  "  Triumphant  Democracy  "  says,  again :  "  Why  does 
the  credit  of  this  new  Republic  stand  higher  than  that  of  old  England  ? 


CONCLUSION,  713 

Why  would  the  world  lend  this  young  Democracy  more  money  and 
upon  better  terms  than  it  would  lend  the  old  monarchy  ?  Why  does 
the  world  pay  for  American  three  per  cents  more  than  it  will  pay  for 
the  British  three  per  cents  ?  The  answer  is  obvious.  Because  the 
reign  of  the  whole  of  the  people  of  a  state  is  more  secure  than  the 
reign  of  any  class  in  a  state  can  possibly  be.  A  class  may  be  upset, 
nay,  is  sure  to  be  sooner  or  later ;  the  people  are  forever  and  ever  in 
power." 

Then  the  writer  goes  on  to  multiply  telling  facts,  and  finally 
adds  :  "  The  answer  to  doubters  of  the  stability  of  Democracy,  like 
Sir  Henry  Maine,  is  here  :  December,  1885, — 

"Republican  three  per  cents,  103^. 

"  Monarchial  three  per  cents,  99^. 

"Were  the  consuls  of  America  perpetual,  like  those  of  Britain, 
and  not  redeemable  at  a  fixed  date,  their  value  would  be  still  higher. 

"  It  has  been  the  boast,  one  of  the  many  proud  boasts,  of  the 
parent  land,  that  her  institutions  were  stable  as  the  rock,  as  proved 
by  her  consuls,  which  stood  pre-eminent  throughout  the  world.  Now 
comes  her  Republican  child,  and  plucks  from  her  queenly  head  the 
golden  round  of  public  credit  as  hers  of  right,  and  places  it  upon  her 
own  fair  brow.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to  claim  victories  for  tri- 
umphant Democracy,  but  surely  the  world  will  join  me  in  saying 
none  is  more  surprising  than  this,  that  its  public  credit  stands  before 
that  of  Great  Britain  and  first  in  all  the  world." 

This  is  a  flattering  tribute  to  our  country,  of  which  the  New 
West  may  not  be  diffident  to  claim  its  share.  For  this  remarkable 
consummation  of  public  affairs,  especially  the  financial  triumphs, 
could  not  have  been  reached  in  the  present  century  but  for  the  set- 
tlement and  development  of  this  marvellous  country.  And  still 
more  'in  the  future  than  in  the  past,  will  the  expanding  resources  of 
the  New  West  exalt  the  national  credit,  until  the  Republic  shall  be 
as  widely  known  for  its  population  of  a  thousand  millions  as  for  its 
fabulous  wealth. 

These  facts  indicate  that  the  New  West  will  decide  the  destiny  of 
our  land,  and  that,  too,  on  the  line  of  unparallelled  growth  and  pros- 
perity. Perils  beset  this  portion  of  our  country,  it  is  true,  perils  of 
such  fearful  magnitude  as  to  awaken  alarm  ;  but  this  is  God's  battle, 
in  which  "one  will  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to 
flight."  But  for  this  unassailable  truth  the  Republic  would  not 
stand  at  the  head  of  nations  in  wealth  and  population,  or  anything 
else,  to-day.  From  the  outset  this  is  what  the  world  has  witnessed 


7H  MARVELS  OF  THE  NEW  WEST. 

on  this  Western  Continent,  —  "two  putting  ten  thousand  to  flight." 
Arid  this  must  continue,  if  the  Divine  Plan  is  to  build  up  a  mighty 
Christian  nation  here,  until  the  Republic  stands  complete  in  its 
beauty  and  glory.  If  the  New  West  shall  fail  of  the  achievements 
predicted,  the  Republic  will  fail  to  maintain  its  advanced  rank  among 
the  nations ;  and  if  the  Republic  fails,  mankind  will  fail  also.  The 
prediction  that  the  unprecedented  mixture  of  nationalities  in  the  New 
West  will  compromise,  and  possibly  destroy,  its  noblest  institutions^ 
will  not  be  fulfilled,  since  the  manifest  drift  of  affairs  is  to  the  absorp- 
tion of  all  other  races  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  now  control  the 
destiny  of  the  human  family.  This  English-speaking  portion  of  man- 
kind never  even  nods  to  foreign  tongues,  but  the  latter  are  con- 
stantly being  absorbed  by  the  former.  We  have  an  amusing  jargon 
of  languages  now;  but  the  time  is  coming  when  the  French,  Ger- 
man, Irish,  Spanish,  and  every  other  nationality  will  join  our  Eng- 
lish-speaking people,  and  we  shall  have  but  one  tongue  spoken  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf.  Besides, 
the  representatives  of  these  many  nations  in  the  New  West  are  the 
most  intelligent,  enterprising,  and  industrious  of  their  countrymen. 
Comparatively  few  tramps  and  worthless  characters  are  among  them. 
The  mass  of  them  emigrate  thither  for  homes  and  a  livelihood,  and 
multitudes  become  farmers,  scattered  over  the  States  and  Territories 
under  circumstances  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  development  of  good 
citizenship.  Nor  can  we  disprove  Herbert  Spencer's  prediction  that 
this  conglomeration  of  races  will  result  in  a  higher  type  of  manhood 
than  now  appears  upon  the  continent.  Mr.  Spencer  says  :  — 

"  From  biological  truths  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  eventual  mix- 
ture of  the  allied  varieties  of  the  Aryan  race  forming  the  population 
will  produce  a  finer  type  of  man  than  has  hitherto  existed,  and  a  type 
of  man  more  plastic,  more  adaptable,  more  capable  of  undergoing  the 
modifications  needful  for  complete  social  life.  I  think  that,  whatever 
difficulties  they  may  have  to  surmount,  and  whatever  tribulations 
they  may  have  to  pass  through,  the  Americans  may  reasonably  look 
forward  to  a  time  when  they  will  have  produced  a  civilization  grander 
than  any  the  world  has  known."  Our  hope  and  expectation  is  that 
Herbert  Spencer  will  turn  out  a  true  prophet. 

The  liquor  traffic  is  the  prolific  cause  of  evil  in  the  New  West, 
as  it  is  in  the  East  ;  and  yet,  in  its  centres  of  population,  it  is 
divested  of  some  of  the  frightful  characteristics  which  make  it  so 
horrible  to  contemplate  in  Boston,  New  York,  Cincinnati,  Chicago, 
and  St.  Louis.  The  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  Christian  principle 


CONCLUSION.  715 

there  are  opposed  to  the  traffic.  Already  Kansas  has  led  the  way  to 
a  Constitutional  Amendment,  forever  prohibiting  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages  within  its  limits,  and  the  States  of 
the  East  are  fast  copying  its  example.  So  that,  in  the  solution  of 
the  liquor  problem,  it  appears  to  many  that  deliverance  for  the  East 
is  to  come  from  the  New  West.  The  very  favorable  results  of  the 
experiment  in  Kansas,  ridding  the  commonwealth  of  the  most  dan- 
gerous class  of  citizens,  inviting  a  better  and  nobler  class  of  immi- 
grants to  settle  there,  where  the  curse  of  the  traffic  does  not  rest  as 
a  pall  upon  every  industry,  increasing  population,  wealth,  and  busi- 
ness to  an  unprecedented  degree,  will  demonstrate  to  every  State 
and  Territory  further  west  the  practicability  and  absolute  necessity 
of  stamping  out  a  trade  that  is  "the  dynamite  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion." It  is  probable  that,  earlier  than  in  many  parts  of  the  East, 
the  New  West  will  put  the  liquor  traffic  under  the  ban  of  prohibitive 
legislation,  thereby  removing  one  of  the  greatest  barriers  to  its  thrift 
and  triumph. 

Mammonism,  Mormonism,  Socialism,  Skepticism,  and  Atheism  are 
mighty  obstacles  to  the  rise  and  progress  of  our  Western  domain ; 
but  the  holy  trinity  of  Liberty,  Education,  and  Christianity,  in  which 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  believe,  will  prove  more  than  a  match  for  them 
all  in  the  future  conflict  for  supremacy.  This  race  has  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  our  Western  empire,  and  started  it  off  in  a  career  of  unex- 
ampled prosperity ;  and  its  grip  upon  the  masses  will  not  be  relaxed 
as  the  battle  for  unity  and  right  waxes  hotter;  but  will  rather  tighten 
its  hold  and  increase  its  power,  until  language,  custom,  and  purpose 
are  one,  under  the  control  of  Liberty,  Education,  and  Religion.  An 
Englishman  says,  "  Every  one  is  looking  forward  with  eager  and  im- 
patient expectation  to  that  destined  moment  when  America  will  give 
law  to  the  rest  of  the  world."  This  consummation  will  be  realized 
when  Anglo-Saxon  supremacy  over  the  New  West  shall  bring  its 
multiform  elements  into  complete  accord  for  the  Union,  and  the 
Christian  Religion  shall  control  the  whole  for  Humanity  and  God. 


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